


Interspecies Awkwardness

by N7GVLVR



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 17:05:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 83,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6292666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N7GVLVR/pseuds/N7GVLVR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter is also known as "That time I tried to write smut..."</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He was in a standoff with the woman he loved. A standoff. How did he end up in these sorts of situations?

“No!” Jane snarled.

“Jane,” He sighed. “No isn’t an option. Don’t make me repeat last week.”

“No, please?” She asked, sweetly.

Garrus gave her a blank stare, so glad she couldn’t hear his subharmonics. If she could, she’d realize just how close he was to giving in to her. 

“I hate it!” She whined. “It always makes me sad. You don’t want to make me sad, do you?”

“Really, Jane, you’re going to pout and whine? I thought you were better than that,” Garrus goaded. “Are you the same woman I knew a year ago? Is this the woman who united the galaxy, destroyed the reapers, and lived to tell about it?”

“No! Of course I’m not the same woman! Now I’m fat!” Jane crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on her protruding stomach as her bottom lip popped out into an overly dramatic pout. 

“I’m fat, and puffy, and tired, and grumpy. And that thing,” She pointed to the scale on the floor for emphasis. “Makes me sad. It has one job, to depress me, and it does it wonderfully.”

“It’s only job is to tell me how much you weigh so I can relay the information to the doctor in London,” Garrus reminded her. “You’re the one who’s letting it get you upset. It’s just an object, love.”

“A mean object. A horrible object.” 

Garrus took a step closer to Jane as she pouted. 

“I already know what it’s going to say,” She whispered. “It’s going to say F-A-T. It’s at that point, beyond its limit, so it’s going to stop giving you a number and just say fat.” 

Garrus snorted at that logic. The scale could measure a krogan’s weight; there was no way it was topped out. 

“C’mon Jane, if you don’t want to know what it says, then get on it backwards. I’ll read the number and send it off to the doctor and you won’t ever have to know.”

“Oh-ho-ho, but I already know. You seem to think this child has made me stupid, Garrus. I can see the changes; my pants don’t fit—again! Last week, I could see the tips of my toes, this week, they’re gone. My feet are gone, swallowed up by this…this…THIS.” She dissolved into a fit of flailing hands as she motioned to her stomach. 

Garrus reached out, wrapping his three fingered hands around her five fingered ones, slowly lowering their joined hands to her stomach. Gently, he caressed her stomach, feeling the child inside move and kick against his palm.   
“Shh, shh,” He hushed her as he pulled her close. She rested against him, reaching up to nuzzle his neck. “Okay, Jane, okay, no scale.” 

“Promise?” She whispered against his neck, her warm breath tickling the sensitive skin between his plates.

“You know I can’t make that promise,” He rubbed his mandible against the top of her head. “We have to do this eventually. But right now, I promise, no scale. Later, scale, but right now, no scale.”

She huffed against him, nuzzling his neck again as she tried to move closer to him before she let out a snarl that would make any turian woman proud and shoved away. 

“See! Fat! I can’t even hug you! He’s in the way,” She poked her stomach.

“Hey!” Garrus grabbed her hand. “Gentle, woman!”

“Oh, he’s fine. He kicks me all night and day; I’m allowed a little retaliation.”

Garrus watched as Jane rubbed her hand against her stomach right where she’d poked, almost soothingly, as though she were apologizing for the abuse. She may talk tough, but she didn’t mean a single word that came out of her mouth.

He watched as she turned and left the bathroom, walking into their bedroom and over to the dresser. 

Damn, she was beautiful pregnant. 

She paused in the process of pulling a tank top over her head and looked down at her stomach. 

“Live it up, big guy,” She whispered. “Because once you’re evicted from there, you don’t get to kick me.”

Garrus bit his tongue to keep the chuckle that was burning his throat from escaping. He wasn’t going to ruin a perfect moment between his wife and unborn son by letting her know he was eavesdropping—even if it wasn’t fully intentional. 

Smiling to himself, he walked into their bedroom and over to where Jane was digging in a dresser drawer. He waited until she stood up to wrap his arms around her from behind, cupping her stomach. 

“Have I told you how absolutely gorgeous you are recently?” He asked, bending down to nip at her neck.

“Not in at least an hour,” She leaned back against his chest, moaning softly as he licked her neck.


	2. Chapter 2

                He watched her as she slept.  Her chest rising and falling slowly, her face relaxed, the ever persistent wrinkle between her eyebrows finally gone, the whole picture made him smile.  It was crazy to think there was a time when he’d been afraid to imagine this future, where he wondered if she’d wake up, if she would survive to take the next breath.  But she was a fighter, his Jane, the physical embodiment of good in his life. 

                He wanted to run his fingers through her hair, but knew that she would wake the moment he snagged in the ever present tangles caused by having curls like hers.  Instead, he settled for running his hand over her hair, brushing it back from her face and across his chest, where her head was propped. 

                Sleeping had become a problem for her as the pregnancy progressed.  She was so tiny that she had started showing only weeks after they confirmed the positive test and a few weeks after that brought on the discomfort.  At first, she’d been able to sleep if she had a body pillow, and that had worked all the way to the beginning of the third trimester, but then the baby started putting on weight and the body pillow just wasn’t support enough. 

                Garrus had worried, fretted some would even say—though never to his face, when he started noticing she wasn’t sleeping well.  He’d read every book and article and watched every vid that was available in regards to human pregnancy, and one thing that had been stressed in every single piece of information was that the expectant mother needed her sleep.  Naps were to be expected, and it was just easier not to fight the need for extra sleep—after all she was nourishing a child as well as herself now.  So, when the pillow failed to help, he started brainstorming new ideas.  And that is how they ended up where they were now. 

                Jane had mentioned that the pain in her hips and back was less if she was propped up, and she’d begun to grab cat naps in the chair in the living room, but Garrus refused to have her sleeping in that chair every night.  That just wasn’t going to happen.  So she’d tried to prop herself up against the headboard, piling pillows against it and around herself, but that was uncomfortable as well and she would just end up slipping down the bed until she was laying flat again.  She needed something that was supportive and would hold her body in the position she needed even after she fell asleep.  She needed something firmer than her pillows, and tall enough that she wouldn’t be leaning at a weird angle. 

                That’s where Garrus came in.

                And that’s how he found himself propped up against their headboard—thankfully they’d gone for the goofy looking padded one when they picked out their bedroom furniture—at least twice a day plus all night, his arms wrapped around the woman he loved, his hands curled under her stomach, supporting the weight of their unborn child to relieve the stress on her hips and lower back.  As weird as it seemed, and to use her words exactly, he was “just right”.  He gave her the support she needed, and with a small pillow pressed between her cheek and his chest, she was able to sleep without tossing or turning or waking up in more pain than she’d gone to bed in. 

                But because turians didn’t need a lot of sleep, only a few hours every night, he found himself with a lot of free time.  A lot of time to get lost in his head, lost in his thoughts. Usually that meant he spent hours petting her stomach while trying to chase the memory of finding her buried in the rubble of the Citadel, so close to death he swore the Grim Reaper was stalking his every step as he carried her back to the shuttle.  That black angel succeeded in snatching her a few times, too, but luckily Drs. Chakwas and Michel along with Miranda were able to bring her back. 

                It was bad enough he’d lived the hours that turned into days and then into months, he didn’t need to be reliving them when she was well and in his arms.

                But today was different.  Today, his thoughts took another direction and decided to revisit a conversation they’d had about a year ago.  He smiled, tucking the blankets around her shoulders, as he let himself fall into the memories, his hand slipping under the covers to rub small circles against her stomach.

_Garrus sat on the couch in the loft, his feet propped up on the coffee table as he perused the extranet for more information.  It had been six months since he and Jane had been married, and had decided that they wanted to pursue the idea of having a child, and while he knew that sometimes it just took time to conceive, he was getting antsy.  He liked the idea of her pregnant; he liked the picture he had in his head of her with a baby in her arms, at her breast, on her hip.  And he wanted it to be reality sooner rather than later._

_So he’d started researching, quietly, in his spare time, and he didn’t say a word to her about it. She had this strange notion that if they over thought the whole process that they’d have more trouble.  As far as she was concerned, if they conceived, great, if not, well it was always fun trying and they’d just keep trying._

_This whole concept of not stopping it from happening but not doing anything specific to help the process along was driving him nutty.  He had no idea what could be done to help the process—it seemed pretty straight forward to him—but apparently he was wrong since every 28 days, like clockwork, her menstrual cycle started up.  And every time it did, he saw that defeated look on her face.  It only lasted for a moment, and then she’d smile and make a comment about “maybe next month” or “sometimes it takes a while if the woman’s been on contraceptives”._

_Or, sometimes, the DNA you were trying to mesh together just wasn’t compatible.  It was like trying to glue a Krogan to a Salarian, and as much as she didn’t want to believe it, Garrus knew the truth._

_Turians and humans couldn’t make a baby._

_There were turian and human couples, but there were no turian-human hybrid babies. Not one single turian-human baby existed.  There were documented cases of the woman getting pregnant, but she always miscarried.  Once, the woman had made it to the point of “viability” when she went into labor.  The baby was stillborn, and from the reports he’d been able to hack into, even if it had been born alive, it would’ve died very soon after. The end of the doctor’s report on that child had been what turned the tide for Garrus.  It had said:_

_**Turian-human DNA incompatible.  Even after in-vitro fertilization and constant supervision of pregnancy, along with dextro-nutrients supplied to fetus via IV, fetus was non-viable—suggested adoption.**_

_He wasn’t opposed to adoption, but he had no idea how Jane felt about the idea.  She was very excited about being pregnant; she wanted to experience pregnancy. She wanted to feel the baby moving inside her, she wanted to go through the whole experience, from positive test to labor and delivery.  And, if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to go along with her._

_Which brought him right back to searching the extranet—if he couldn’t give her a baby by obvious means, he’d find another way for her to experience the whole thing, and he was pretty sure he’d found the solution.  He just had to figure out how to bring it up to her._

_As though she knew he wanted to speak with her, the doors to the loft opened with a swish and she came walking in.  Her hair was already out of its hair tie, the curls cascading around her shoulders, and she was in the process of taking off the jacket to her BDUs before she reached the stairs down to the bedroom area._

_“Hey, you,” She smiled at him as she tossed her jacket toward the laundry basket and missed by a mile—on purpose.  She had something against putting her clothing into the hamper, it was cute._

_The pants followed before she walked over to the wall of built in drawers.  She rifled around until she came up with a pair of “yoga pants” and started to pull them on. They hugged her hips and rear, but were loose on her thighs and at least a foot too long, so she was always walking on the hem. But she loved them; she said they made her feel human._

_He’d once asked her what she felt like when she wasn’t wearing them, if she had to wear them to feel like her own species.  She had chuckled before explaining that she knew she was a human, but when she was wearing her BDUs or dress blues or even her armor she was Commander Shepard-Vakarian, Alliance Marine and First Human Spectre.  When she put on her yoga pants and tank top, she just felt like Jane, there weren’t any titles; she was just Jane Vakarian, his wife.  She wasn’t the savior of the galaxy, the one who’d destroyed the reapers, she was just herself. That alone endured him to those pants—and he’d bought her at least a dozen more._

_“Hey,” He returned her greeting._

_She walked over to him, a pair of brightly striped socks in her hand and smacked his feet._

_“How many times do I have to ask you to not put your feet on the table?”  She grumbled half heartedly._

_He tried for a sheepish look as he moved his feet from the table to the floor, but she wasn’t buying it.  She knew why he put them up there—he liked that she fussed about something so domestic.  To use her words, it made him feel “human,” like they were just husband and wife, like in the old vids, not war heroes._

_“What are you doing?” She asked as she motioned to the data pad sitting next to him on the couch._

_“Just a little research,” He answered truthfully, there was no reason to lie since he planned to bring up what he’d learned anyway.  He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her off her feet and into him.  Her only choice, if she didn’t want to fall awkwardly onto him, was to straddle his lap, which she did without question._

_“About what…?” She asked as she squirmed against him as she got comfortable._

_“Oh, you know; the usual.  Wanted to see what the media is saying about us, since they still haven’t let our marriage go—honestly, we’ll be celebrating our anniversary and they’ll still be having a hay day,” He hedged.  He told himself he wasn’t putting off talking to her about what he’d found, that he was just enjoying playing with her._

_“Bull shit, Garrus,” Jane shoved his shoulder before she bumped her forehead against his. “You never did have a good poker face.”_

_“Since turians rely on their subharmonics to relay emotions we have very few facial expressions, so that means I have a great poker face.  I just have a horrible poker…voice,” He teased._

_“Poker voice,” Jane threw her head back and laughed.  “I like that one.”_

_He leaned forward, nuzzling against her collar bone since it was wide open with her head back._

_“I love hearing you laugh,” He sighed into her skin. “Hell, I love hearing you yell, and whisper, and snarl, the only noise you make that I don’t love—would even say I hate—is that soft whimper you make when you’re sad.”_

_“I don’t whimper,” Jane straightened up, pulling back from him slightly and tipping her head to the side as she looked down at him._

_“Yes, you do,” His voice dropped a bit, getting gravelly.  Even without being able to hear his subharmonics she had to know he was feeling some strong emotions. “Every month, you let out this little whimper, then sigh and say “maybe next month”.  Believe me, I know.  I see this happen every month.”_

_They stared at each other for a moment. She was trying to figure out where he was going and why he’d brought that up while he just took in her expression—equal parts bewilderment and confusion._

_“You have a point to such an astute observation, Garrus?” She finally asked._

_“Yes.”_

_He picked her up by the waist, turning her in his lap so she was sitting sideways instead of straddling him before reaching for the data pad._

_“First, for the record, I wasn’t lying when I said I was looking into what the media was saying about us.  I just didn’t spend as much time on that—I really don’t give a damn, mostly.  If that reporter from Westerlund News doesn’t stop with her smear campaign against the Turian species, though, I might find myself spending more time on this, but for now it’s really not that important.” He stopped himself when he realized he was bordering on a rant he’d already had more than one time._

_“Uh-huh,” Jane hummed._

_She reached for the data pad, trying to take it from him, but he held it over her head.  He’d tell her what he’d been looking at, but in his own time, and in his own way, and she could damn well wait._

_“Second,” He went on as though she wasn’t trying to climb him to get to the data pad. “I started looking into turian-human reproduction rates.  Specifically, I wanted to know how many turian-human babies existed in this galaxy.”_

_“None,” Jane whispered as she went still, her hands withdrawing from their attempt to get the data pad from him._

_He nodded slowly._

_“…Turian-human DNA incompatible…fetus non-viable,” Jane whispered, burrowing her nose against his neck._

_“I hacked your personal extranet account,” She confessed, her voice strangled._

_He felt her body jerk and heard the sob catch in her throat at the same time and dropped the data pad, not caring that it fell behind the couch as he rushed to wrap his arms around her.  He held her as she cried, rubbing her back, stroking her hair, and murmuring to her that it would be alright, that there were other options._

_He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, five minutes or five hours, it really didn’t matter to him.  Every tear she shed killed him a little.  He’d let her down.  He’d let_ them _down.  But he was going to fix it.  Maybe it wouldn’t be a turian-human baby in her womb, but dammit, she was going to get to experience motherhood._

_After a while, she quieted, her sobs turning into hiccups and then finally soft sniffles.  She sat up; wiping her arm against her eyes before reaching for the box of tissues they had in the center of the coffee table.  She blew her nose before grabbing a clean tissue and trying to dry him off, but he stopped her, taking her hand in his._

_“Don’t worry about it.”_

_He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, trying to plan what he was going to say next.  He wanted it to come out right. He wanted her to accept it._

_“There are other options,” He tried to put some optimism into his voice, a very difficult feat when one’s subharmonics were screaming grief, but for her he could do just about anything._

_“Adoption,” She nodded as she said it._

_“Yes,” He agreed. “Adoption is one option.”_

_“It’s really the only option,” She countered._

_“No,” This time he shook his head for emphasis.  He reached to his side, patting his hand across the couch cushion looking for the data pad, only to remember dropping it when she’d broken down._

_“Dammit!” He growled. “You’re going to have to get up for a second. I have to get my data pad from behind the couch.”_

_He’d spent a lot of time working out the details, he had everything on that data pad, and it bothered him that he didn’t have it now.  He wanted to be able to back up what he said, he wanted to be able to show her what he’d found._

_She giggled, but didn’t get off his lap, so he wrapped his hands around her waist and started to lift her, but she stopped him with a hand on the side of his face._

_“Garrus,” She smiled as she said his name and he froze completely. “I hacked your account, remember?”_

_“In the last hour?”_

_“Well, no, last night while you were working in the main battery,” She explained._

_“Then you don’t know what I found.”_

_He picked her up and set her on the couch next to him before turning to kneel on the couch and reach behind it.  Thankfully, he could reach the data pad; it hadn’t slid under the couch so he wouldn’t have to move the heavy piece of furniture to get it back._

_“Got it," He exclaimed as he turned back around brandishing the pad like it was his prized rifle.  He opened the first page, handing it to her._

_He sat quietly as she read over everything he’d compiled.  He watched her eyes twitch from left to right, anxiously waiting for her to finish and say something.  It felt like an eternity, but then she dropped her hands, still holding the data pad, into her lap and looked up at him.  There were tears in her eyes again, and cursed himself for causing them._

_“You’d be okay with this?” Her voice was pinched with the strain of holding tears back._

_“I don’t want you to miss out on something you’ve wanted for so long just because nature doesn’t want to cooperate with us,” He answered her honestly._

_He wasn’t expecting her to launch herself at him, wrapping her arms around him before pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss.  He was just relaxing into the kiss when he felt her tears fall against his face, causing him to pull back quickly._

_“Jane! What’s wrong?”_

_“Nothing,” She smiled, tears still rolling down her cheeks. “They’re happy tears, Garrus.  I can’t believe you’d be okay with something like in vitro or artificial insemination.”_

_“Jane,” He reached up, running his fingers into her hair as he cupped her head, looking into her eyes. “I love you. If you said you wanted it, I’d go out into space and capture a star for you. So, yes, I’m okay with this.  Though, I do have one condition.”_

_She quirked an eye brow at him as she sat back up, letting him sit up as well._

_“I think the donor should be someone on the crew. Everyone here is family to us, it only seems right that we chose someone we know, that we care about, and that, hopefully, cares about us to help with this adventure.”_

_“Have anyone in mind?” She asked, her smile growing._

_“Maybe…” His mandibles flared into the turian version of a smile before he leaned back toward Jane and pressed his forehead to hers. “But we can talk about that later.”_


	3. Chapter 3

                “Why are baby socks so small?” Jane grumbled as she threw the socks she’d finished pairing into the basket.  “And why are there so many?”

                Jane sat on the floor in the living room of their home trying to fold tiny pieces of baby clothing.  She’d started out sitting on the couch, with the basket of freshly cleaned onesies, footie pajamas, and tiny socks between her legs, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to work.  Every time she bent forward to reach for another piece of clothing, the baby squished her lungs and made it difficult to breath.  She was sure her face was turning blue every time she tried to find a matching pair of socks.

                This was the fifth load of baby clothing she’d washed this week.  And she and Garrus hadn’t purchased a single piece of it. The gifts had started pouring in two weeks after they had finally gone public with her pregnancy.  It was crazy to Jane that complete strangers felt the need to go out and purchase something for their unborn child.

                But if she was being honest, the brunt of the clothing hadn’t come from her ‘adoring fans’ as Garrus liked to call them—right up until she reminded him that they were also _his_ adoring fans.  She chuckled as she thought back to the fan mail he’d been receiving lately. She never knew a turian could turn the colors he did.  The majority of the small bits she was folding had come in one overly large package, hand delivered to their front door by EDI herself.  The whole crew of the _Normandy_ had pitched in and purchased enough clothing, toys, bedding, and diapers to last until the child reached college.

                Thinking about the day EDI had come to visit, her first trip away from the ship since Tali had reactivated her body, made Jane smile and tear up.  She reached for a tissue from the box that she’d started carrying around with her as though it was her side arm—which she also had with her at all times because not all of the mail they received was approving, after all—and wiped her eyes. 

                Jane remembered feeling pretty down on that particular day.  She couldn’t remember why, but she did remember that she’d been sitting alone at the kitchen table, fiddling with the spoon in her cup of tea when there was a knock at the door. 

                She had almost tackled EDI when she found the AI standing on the front stoop, a large box in her arms.  
  
                "Commander, are you troubled. Your serotonin levels are low."  
  
                "I'm fine EDI; just a little blue is all,” Jane waved EDI’s worries away, especially since she could feel her mood shifting now that she had company.  
  
                "Jeff assures me that this is a joyous time in a woman's life. He also stated that the giving of gifts is tradition."

                The clothing, of course, wasn’t the only thing that EDI was delivering.  She also had a present for Jane.  Something she had procured on that fateful day so many months before.  It was a picture of the baby’s biological father when he heard the news that he’d been chosen as the donor. 

                Jane had, of course, framed the picture—even though the picture’s subject had objected, rather loudly—and it was sitting on the side table in the living room.   Looking at the picture now, Jane thought back to that day, and why she had been standing in the mess hall, watching EDI fish a name out of Garrus’ helmet.

~*~

                _“Joker?” Garrus asked as he returned to the couch, a cup of turian tea in his hand._

_“I don’t know,” Jane shrugged. “What about Vrolick’s?”_

_Garrus sat quietly next to her, contemplating that little bit of information as he blew on his tea._

_“What about it?” He finally asked._

_“Well, I mean, do we want to take the chance of him passing it on?” Jane wasn’t trying to be mean, she would love Joker to be the donor for their first child, but she also had to be practical.  He had a very debilitating disease, and there was no way to know if their child would also have the disease._

_Garrus tilted his head in a half nod-half shake as he took a sip of his drink._

_“I see your point, but I don’t feel it’s significant.  If we had a baby, one that was you and me, who know what we’d be dealing with if the child survived, so I don’t think it’s fair to remove him from the options just because he might pass on brittle bone disease,” Garrus explained._

_Jane nodded her agreement before looking back at the data pad in her hand._

_“Okay, so Joker is a possible option.  Cortez?” She went down the list of crew members who’d offered to assist them in their child bearing endeavor._

_“Ehh,” Garrus hedged._

_“What’s wrong with Cortez?” Jane asked._

_“He’s brown,” Garrus said.  It was said so matter-of-factly that Jane almost fell out of her chair._

_“Oh, my God, you did not just say that, did you?” Jane stared at her husband, her jaw slack._

_“I just said something horribly inappropriate, didn’t I?”_

_“Horrendously offensive,” Jane shook her head, slightly amused by the way Garrus was squirming._

_“Ugh!” Garrus growled, setting his tea down on a coaster on the coffee table then turning to her. “I didn’t mean it_ that _way.”_

_“There aren’t a lot of ways you can mean what you said,” Jane pointed out._

_“Okay, Jane, forgive every horribly offensive thing I’m going to say right now, because if what I said before was offensive, I’m about to become horrific,” Garrus sighed._

_“Just explain yourself, Garrus,” Jane finally let the smile tugging at her lips out._

_“It’s just, you’re so pale, not sickly pale, but that beautiful porcelain color.  Like those little dolls that we sometimes see in the shop windows.” He stopped there to reach out and brush the back of one of his fingers along her jaw before dropping his hand back to his lap and continuing. “And he’s so dark.  I can’t figure out how that would work, which would be dominant? Would the baby be dark like him or pale like you? And I feel that—no, I want, one of our children to look like you,” Garrus stopped for a second, looking down at his hands which were knotted together in his lap. “I’m not making this better, am I?”_

_Jane laid a hand on his scarred mandible, gently tilting his head back up so he was looking at her._

_“So, your only real issue is that you’re not sure what the baby would look like?” She asked._

_“I guess, yeah,” Garrus mumbled. “Would she have your green eyes and bright hair, because I really think she should have your beauty.”_

_“Okay, I see your point, but you probably shouldn’t mention any of this to Cortez,” She conceded.  What he said was very offensive, but human societal norms were still new to him and it wasn’t fair for her to expect him to know every single detail of human history—like slavery or segregation and how badly Africans were hurt because of them._

_What he’d said had probably made a lot of sense to him.  He was thinking biology, not culture.  And Jane was sure that when it came to turian culture and norms that she was probably no better at navigating the land mines waiting for her._

_“The baby would probably be more the color of my coffee in the morning,” She mentioned as she turned away from him to look back at her data pad. “Though, I’m sure if you did a little research you could find pictures to show you.”_

_“I hadn’t even thought of that.”_

_“Next contestant: Donnelly?”_

_“Okay,” Garrus agreed right away._

_“Okay,” Jane agreed.  Donnelly would be a good donor.  Garrus would get his fair skinned baby—weird that he’d cling to that as a sticking point—and they could stop picking apart their best friends._

_Or so she thought until a few hours later when Garrus nudged her just as she was dozing off._

_“Do you think the crew will think we’re playing favorites?” Garrus asked._

_“Huh?” Jane was trying hard to cling to the floating feeling she had as she fell asleep, she was exhausted after a day of paperwork and mundane every day details which had been topped off by having to pick apart the males of her crew to decide on a sperm donor.  All she wanted was to sleep._

_“Do you think that the others, like Cortez and Joker, will think we are playing favorites? That we didn’t choose Joker because of Vrolick’s, or Cortez because of his skin color?”_

_“But isn’t that what we did?” Jane gave up on sleeping and rolled onto her back before sitting up. She adjusted the pillow behind her so she was supported._

_“I guess,” Garrus sighed, his shoulders slumping in on themselves.  “It just doesn’t feel right.”_

_Jane thought for a moment before she said, “No, it really doesn’t.”_

_“I mean, if this wasn’t a donor situation, we’d get whatever we got, we wouldn’t get to pick and choose,” Jane went on to explain._

_“We’d just be surprised when the baby was born,” Garrus added._

_“Exactly, but how do we get that when we’re picking someone to be our donor?” She asked out loud.  She crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her finger against her chin as she thought._

_“I’ve got it!” That big turian grin popped up on his face just before laid back down on his side of the bed._

_“Well,” Jane nudged him with her foot. “Are you going to share with the room?”_

_“Tomorrow,” Garrus pulled her down, wrapping his arms around her. “All will be explained tomorrow.”_

_“You are odd,” Jane murmured as she felt herself drift off._

_The next morning she woke up alone.  Weird, Garrus wasn’t an early riser, what was this all about?  Shrugging, she crawled out of bed and made her way to the shower.  Exiting the bathroom some time later, she sat down at her desk to check her emails._

Jane,

                I’m sorry you woke up alone, but I had to run out early. Meet me in the mess hall for breakfast, please?

                Love,

                G.

_That was a man of many words right there, she thought as she moved the email out of her general emails and into a personal folder.  She got up from the chair and finished getting ready for the day.  She was curious about what pulled him out of their bed before she woke, and decided an early breakfast wouldn’t be a bad idea._

_As she exited the elevator on the crew deck she heard hushed whispers coming from the mess hall._

_“Shhh!” Traynor hissed. “EDI said she’s on her way!”_

_What are they up to, Jane wondered as she turned the corner and walked into the mess hall.  Her eyes went straight to Garrus, who was wandering around the room, his helmet in his hand.  As he passed the male members of the crew, some were dropping slips of paper into the piece of armor._

_“What is going on here?” Jane asked._

_“A little more spontaneity, a little less over thinking,” Garrus explained as he came over to her, his helmet held in one hand._

_“Has everyone who wants in on this little adventure tossed their name in?” He asked to the room._

_She looked over the crew; they all seemed to be nodding._

_“C’mon!” Jack shouted from her perch on the kitchen cabinet. “Stop fucking around and pick out your baby daddy, already!”_

_“Oh, no, we’re not doing the picking,” Garrus explained. “EDI?”_

_“Yes, Garrus?” The AI stood up from where she’d been sitting next to Joker._

_“Would you do the honors?” Garrus held the helmet up, making EDI reach above her head to dip her hand inside and pull out a slip of folded paper._

_“Shall I read it?” EDI asked.  She hadn’t opened the paper yet._

_“What do you think, Jane, should EDI announce who’s helping us out?” Garrus wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close._

_“I don’t know, if we’re getting the whole crew involved in this, I think someone else should get to make the announcement,” Shepard chuckled as she looked out at the people who’d become closer than any other family she’d ever had._

_“JACK!” She pulled out her commander voice as she spoke over the hushed conversations between crew members. “Get your ass over here!”_

_“Jesus, woman,” Jack hopped off the counter. “Make me jump out of my skin why don’t you.”_

_Jane gestured to Jack and EDI handed the slip of paper over to the biotic._

_Jack took the paper, walking away from Jane, Garrus, and the crowd that was in the mess hall; she headed toward the main battery and Garrus pulled up his omni-tool, quickly locking the door before she could get to it._

_“Paranoid space dragon,” Jack grumbled as she turned, leaning her back against the door.  She was as far from anyone as she could be and there was no way anyone could look over her shoulder before she made the announcement, which, Jane realized, was what she wanted._

_“Holy shit!” Jack barked as she opened the paper and read the name.  She started to chuckle, then laugh, her arms wrapping around her middle as she bent over, gasping for air because of how hard she was laughing._

_“Now I’m worried,” Garrus whispered into Jane’s ear._

_“You and me both,” Jane agreed._

_“Well,” Joker spoke up. “Are you going to share what’s so funny?”_

_Jack took a few deep breaths as she tried to get her laughter under control.  Once she was able to, she walked back down the ramp to the stairs before turning the slip of paper around, showing the room the name._

  1. **_Vega_**



_“Congrats, Lieutenant Commander!” Jack snickered. “You’re going to be a daddy!”_


	4. Chapter 4

                “I won’t stand for it!” James Vega heard Commander Shepard—no wait, she’d changed her name, it was Vakarian now—scream.  He was walking toward his former Commander’s house, a grocery sack cradled in one arm and his duffle bag slung over the other shoulder.

                _Yikes!_ James thought. He knew she wouldn’t take this well, he’d told Scars she wouldn’t like this, but the turian had been sure he could calm his wife, could make her see reason.  From what he heard, Garrus wasn’t having as much luck as he’d expected.

                There was another shriek, followed by the sound of something breaking as he finally got to the front door.  Should he knock or just walk in? He had the code to unlock the door, but he wasn’t sure if he should.  Deciding he didn’t want something breakable and possibly expensive thrown at his head, he knocked.

                He set down his duffle, raising his fist to the door and pounding on it a few times then leaned back against the railing that ran around the front patio to wait for someone to answer the door.  If no one came to open it in a few minutes, he’d use the code he’d been given and let himself in.

                “Vega,” Garrus said in greeting as the door was opened.

                “Hey, Scars,” Vega straightened up from the railing and grabbed his duffle bag. “How’s life?”

                The look that Garrus gave him would’ve had a lesser man cowering, but James wasn’t afraid.  Garrus Vakarian may be a lot of things, and right now he was pissed, but he wouldn’t take it out on an innocent bystander, and especially not a friend.

                “Just get in here,” Garrus grumbled as he turned and walked back into the house. “Did you bring what I asked for?”

                “Got it all here,” Vega held up the bags in his hands. 

                “So, what’s up with Lola?” Vega changed the subject.

                “She’s angry that I had Liara scanning our mail and weeding out the worst of the threats,” Garrus explained. “I just didn’t want Jane seeing them.  She doesn’t need that stress, not right now.”

                “So, it has nothing to do with my being stationed here?”

                “Oh, no, she’s mad about that, too. She’s calling Hackett right now, as a matter of fact, to get you sent back to the _Normandy_ ,” Garrus chuckled. 

                “It’s not going to happen,” Vega said.  “Hackett is taking those death threats seriously and he doesn’t want you two alone anymore.  She should be grateful, if he’d had his way, there’d be a whole platoon camping on your front lawn.  The Doc and I were able to talk him down to me for now, and as we get closer to the big day, a few others will be coming to visit.”

                They were now standing in the living room and could hear her raised voice coming from down the hall. 

                “Admiral,” She sighed, making an obvious attempt to quell her anger. “I understand where you’re coming from, but this isn’t necessary. We can take care of ourselves.”

                  “This is non-negotiable, Jane,” Hackett responded. “I’m sorry you’re unhappy with this, but you’ll just have to deal with it.  Nothing you say is going to change my mind.”

                There was a pause; one the men in the other room could only assume was Jane glaring at the Admiral while trying to formulate a response.

                “I’d make it an order, but since your resignation I’m no longer able to do that.  So, I’ll just say this, you’re the closest thing I have to a daughter, Jane, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you or that child,” Hackett’s voice softened. 

                “Aw! Damn it, Admiral,” Jane cursed softly. “That’s not fair, playing on the emotions of a pregnant woman.”

                “All’s fair in love and war,” Hackett retorted. “Seriously, though, you’ve done enough for this galaxy, you deserve this happiness, and you shouldn’t have to fight anymore for it.  Let us take care of you this time.”

                “I still don’t like this,” Jane grumbled.

                “You don’t have to like it,” Hackett reminded her. “Now, I have to go, Jane.  I’ll check soon.”

                “Bye, Admiral.”

                “Why didn’t that work for me?” Garrus grumbled as he took the grocery bag from Vega and headed for the kitchen.  “Your room is the second door on the left.”

                “Thanks, Scars,” Vega called out as he headed down the hall way.

                Their house wasn’t huge by any standards, though it wasn’t exactly a shoebox either.  They’d gone for something in the middle, something ‘normal’ as they described it.  With their fame, they could’ve been in a castle.  But they were tired of being seen as war heroes, as larger than life figures.  And he couldn’t blame them for it.  They’d both given a lot to save the galaxy; they’d basically had the spotlight on them for years, ever since the Commander had been appointed as the first human Spectre. 

                He remembered the vids from that day.  And looking back, he couldn’t help but chuckle.  As she’d been sworn in as a Spectre, the Council sounding haughty as they explained what the position was, standing behind and to the right of her was Scars.  Though at that time, he didn’t have any scars, but that didn’t really change anything.  He’d been there, with her from the very beginning.  And he’d help her take down Saren and Sovereign.

                When she’d been spaced during the Collector attack on the _Normandy_ no one denied that it was Vakarian who took it the hardest.  He’d stayed around for her funeral.  He’d stood at that podium to say a few words, the other turians in the room gasping as he spoke about the woman he’d followed into hell.  One of those turians happened to be a now close friend of Vega’s.  A few nights ago he and Vega had gotten a little tipsy and Vega had asked why the turians at Shepard’s funeral had been so disturbed, so shocked by what Garrus said.  His speech wasn’t fancy, wasn’t spectacular by any means.  He spoke about her person, her quirkiness, the way she never let anything get her down.  Even when no one else believed her, she’d fought to save them.

                _“His subharmonics,” The turian had explained to Vega. “Sure his words were neutral, but for every turian in the room we knew the truth.  He mourned the loss of more than just a good friend.  I don’t know if they were involved at that time, but he was mourning the loss of a mate.”_

_“Sub-what?” Vega had asked._

_“Subharmonics.  Turians have two sets of vocal cords. One you can hear—obviously or we’d never be able to communicate with you—the other is at a frequency human ears can’t hear.  Truthfully, there isn’t another species who can hear it,” he explained._

_“Yeah, like right now, Callus is exasperated with all your questions,” another turian spoke up._

_“I just want to understand,” Vega explained, a blush crawling up his neck._

_“I’m not exasperated; it’s just hard to explain. I’m trying to find the best way to explain it.  We don’t cry, we don’t have a lot of facial expressions, our subharmonics are how we express our emotions,” Callus said._

                Vega shook himself out of the memory of that night and back to the present. 

                Fact was Scars and Shepard had been together from day one.  She’d picked him up off the ground when he fell, and vice versa. 

                He’d heard the stories of his scars. Gabby and Ken weren’t afraid to talk about the day Shepard had come back on the ship with a badly bleeding turian on a stretcher.  She had his hand in hers, tears streaming down her face as she spoke to him, even though he was unconscious. 

                _“Don’t you dare die on me!” Gabby would say in an impression of Shepard. “You’re all I have in this blasted galaxy! Don’t you dare die!”_

_Donnelly would cut in, explaining that it had taken three people to tear Shepard away from Vakarian so Dr. Chakwas could look him over._

_“I did not come back from the dead just so you could leave me! You better not kick now, Vakarian! That’s an order!” Gabby said doing her Shepard impersonation, again._

_“And then she just collapsed.  Right there, in the middle of the shuttle bay, it was like everything drained out of her as she watched the elevator doors close.  She crumpled to the ground, bent over with her forehead against the floor, blue blood covering her chest and face and hands as she pounded a fist against the floor.  She’d sat like that for maybe a minute, just breathing.  And then she’d screamed,” Gabby wasn’t impersonating Shepard anymore.  She had this haunted look on her face. “I can’t even explain the scream.  It sent a chill down my spine.  It was like her soul was dying.”_

_“And then she’d picked herself up from the floor, shoved the men who were trying to help her up away, walked to the elevator, and went to the loft,” Ken added._

                Vega finished his walk down the hall as he thought back on that conversation with the engineers.  He reached for the door to his room, tapping the console to open it.  He looked around at the furnishings; a queen size bed was set up under the one window in the room, to the left of the bed was a low dresser, about 9 feet wide with six drawers in it.  To the right of the bed was a closet, its doors still open.  There were a few pieces of clothing hanging in the closet still and he wondered if they’d been using it to store their own clothing but had removed them for him. 

                The walls were a light blue color, and the carpet was grey.  It was simple, but homey.   He set his duffle bag down on the bed and started to unpack. 

                There was a knock at the door frame and when he looked up he smiled.

                “Hey Lola!” He walked over, his arms out for a hug.

                “Hey Vega,” She chuckled as she wrapped her arms around him. She shifted her body to the side so the baby wouldn’t get in the way.

                “How are you?” He asked as he let go of her, he lowered his hand to her stomach, stopping a breath from touching her. “Can I?”

                “Sure,” She said. 

                He set his hand against her.  Her stomach was so perfectly round it looked like she’d swallowed a beach ball.  She was wearing stretch pants and a t-shirt.  The shirt was stretched taut over her belly.

                The baby kicked his hand and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

                “He’s strong,” Vega smiled.

                “Yeah, he likes beating on me as much as you do,” Jane joked. 

                “Have you thought about names?” Vega asked.  He knew he should probably bring up why he was suddenly a permanent fixture in their home, but he didn’t want to be the reason the smile on her face disappeared.  He was sure she would bring it up, eventually, and he was willing to wait until then.

                “Yes, I think we’ve settled on one,” She answered.  Gesturing toward the bed, she stepped into the room he was staying in.  He followed her over to the bed.  She had to hop a bit to get up onto the bed.  It was easy to forget how small she was because she made up for everything she lacked in personality and tenacity.

                “Well, are you going to share?” He prodded.

                “Nope,” She smiled. “Something about this little man has to be a secret.”

                “Just don’t name him after me,” Vega begged. “I mean, I’m honored that I was chosen to help you guys out, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to name him after me or something.  He’s your child, not mine, I know that.”

                “Just last month you were joking that we should name him after you,” Jane said, tilting her head to the side to give him a quizzical look.  “What made you change your mind?”

                Vega shrugged.

                “Just a change of heart, I guess.”

                And like that, the banter was over between them.

                “Okay, well, I just came in to let you know dinner is in about an hour.  Garrus got a new grill and has been itching to try it,” Jane said as she stood up. “I’ll let you unpack.  Don’t think you have to stay in your room all the time.”

                He watched her as she left, just then noticing the Locust on her left hip and the Phalanx strapped to her right thigh.  She knew about the threats, all of them, if she was packing that sort of heat in her own home.

~*~

                “Mmm,” Garrus heard from behind him. “Gun mods for dinner. Yum!”

                Garrus looked up at his wife as she walked into the room.  With a locust on one hip and a phalanx on the other thigh she made even pregnancy look bad assed.

                “Vega brought some toys,” Garrus explained. “I’m just sorting through them.”

                He picked up two from the pile and handed them to her.  “An extra ammo mod for the Phalanx and some lighter weight parts for that Locust.”

                “Thanks, sweetie,” She said as she took the mods and then set them back down on the counter before she walked around the island.  She squeezed between him and the counter and wrapped her arms around his neck.

                “I want to apologize for blowing up at you earlier,” She started, pressing a finger against his lips when he tried to say that it wasn’t necessary. “No, no, it really is.  I’m emotional and while I _was_ angry, that sort of reaction wasn’t necessary. I’m sorry. But, I am still angry that you were hiding something from me.”

                “I just don’t want you stressing over something like this,” He spoke against her finger.  She gave up trying to quiet him and pulled her finger back. “Liara’s the Shadow Broker, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t be able to find those responsible for these threats. I don’t see why you should be worrying about that when she could take care of it.”

                “Because it’s my life, and my choice,” Jane explained. “It was a sweet thought, but way too heavy handed.  Garrus we’re a team, don’t bench me because I’m pregnant, not when it’s something that affects all three of us.”

                “I’m sorry,” He said as he touched his forehead to hers.

                She smiled up at him before pulling away to turn toward the counter covered in mods.

                “So, what is all this for?”

                “I asked Vega to bring them.  If something happens, I want us to be as well prepared as we can be.  I know it seems odd, but this is something I understand.  Idiots attacking my mate and unborn child, yeah it pisses me off, but at least I know I can protect them, and working out a plan keeps me calm,” He said.  He looked up in time to catch her eyebrow climbing up to her hair line. “Okay, we can protect ourselves.”

                “Better. You’re learning,” Jane teased him.  “But couldn’t you find somewhere else to play with your guns? We need to eat soon, I told Vega dinner would be in an hour.”

                “Sure,” He nodded. “I’ll take these to the basement. Sorry, I didn’t think about what time it was.”

                Garrus grabbed the sack Vega had brought the mods in and swept his arm across the counter, pushing them back into the bag. 

                “You’re grilling tonight,” She called as he walked out of the room.

                He waved his arm over his head to acknowledge her as he walked away.

~*~

                Later that night found the three of them in the living room watching the news. 

                “Who knew you could cook, Scars,” Vega said as he leaned back, his hand on his stomach.

                “One of us needed to learn or we were both going to starve. And Jane can’t cook dextro food to save her life,” Garrus explained.  He flinched as Jane smacked his thigh.

                “I’m sure I’ll get better,” She said.

                “I don’t mind cooking for you, love,” Garrus said, leaning in to kiss her neck.

                “Whatev…” Jane stopped talking as she started at the projected image in front of them.  “Oh that bitch!”

                The banter died as all three watched the newscast.  Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani was on screen, with a clip of Jane and Garrus playing behind her. 

                Jane couldn’t believe what the woman was saying, what she was accusing her of, what she was claiming Garrus had done to her.  She felt her jaw dropping farther and farther as the segment went on.

                “As you can see,” Al-Jilani said as she gestured to the clip. “This is not the fairy tale relationship that everyone wants us to believe.  What is really happening behind the doors of their home? Is Shepard as strong as we believed, or is she just another victim hiding behind a smiling face?  And how can she possibly think bringing a baby into this mess will help?”

                “How could she?” Jane whispered as Garrus exploded up from the seat next to her. He stormed out of the house through the patio door. 

                “Is he going to be okay?” Vega asked from her other side.

                “Maybe, eventually,” Jane answered. “These reports have really been hurting him.  I don’t know how to stop them, how to fix it.”

                “I think I’m going to go for a walk,” Vega said.  He barely tried to hide his intentions as he walked toward the patio door and followed Garrus.  Jane let him, too torn up inside from the news segment they’d just seen. 

                Numbly, she stood up, turned off the omni-tool projector, and then walked toward the kitchen.  There were dishes that needed to be cleaned up from dinner and right now it was the only thing she could think to do.  She needed to think, she needed to figure out a way to stop that damn bitch from Westerlund news.  In a few weeks they’d be bringing a little life into this world, and she refused to let that bitch ruin that joyous day.

~*~

                “Hey! Scars!” Vega called as he ran after the turian. “Damn man, slow down!”

                “Go back to the house, Vega,” Garrus growled as he turned on the human. “You’re here to watch Jane when I’m not there, so go do your damn job.”

                “My job is to watch both of you, and you’re the one who’s currently wandering the wilderness all bent out of shape and not watching the shadows for someone who might want you dead,” Vega pointed out. “So, talk to me.”

                “About what?” Garrus snarled then started walking again, pacing along the property line.

                “Anything, everything,” Vega started. “Tell me what married life is like? How’s the pregnancy been? Are you having sympathy cravings? I’ve heard some daddies-to-be suffer from them more than their wives.”

                Garrus just grunted, and continued his pacing.

                “C’mon, Scars, you’re not honestly letting that bitch on the TV get to you?” Vega goaded.  He knew he was playing with fire, but he’d deal with the consequences later, right now he needed his friend to talk.

                “Put yourself in my place,” Garrus snarled, pacing right up to Vega and getting in the human’s face. “What if that was _you_ on that screen?  What if they were accusing _you_ of abusing your wife, of trapping her into your marriage?  They can’t just let us be!  They have to ruin every beautiful moment! I bet that bitch doesn’t even know…”

                Garrus ran out of steam, his shoulders slumping as he pulled away from Vega.

                “Doesn’t even know what?”

                “What day that was.”

                “Which is?”

                “The day we found out we were having a boy,” Garrus moved away from Vega fully, stepping up to the low fence that ran around their property and leaning on it.  “That video was recorded as we left the clinic.  I’d just seen my son for the first time, watched his heart beat, saw him suck his thumb, he kicked just as the ultrasound technician was taking a picture.”

                Garrus pulled up his omni-tool, clicking through a few files until he found the one he wanted then turned the holo-screen so James could see it. 

                “Two perfect little feet,” Garrus explained.  “All ten toes.”

                Vega couldn’t stop his heart from swelling with pride as he saw the picture, watching the little recording as it played on Garrus’ omni-tool.  The baby wasn’t his, he was just the sperm donor, but that didn’t stop him from smiling as he saw the baby moving around.  He’d given them a strong child.

                “And that witch of a woman took that shot of me guiding Jane through the throngs of cameras and paparazzi, back to our car, and turned it into evidence that I’m abusive?  Because I don’t have a smile on my face—you know turians don’t smile like humans do—I’m angry?  Does she even know? Does she even understand?”

                “No, she doesn’t,” Vega said. “She never will, either.  She can’t hear you. She didn’t hear what her camera picked up, what every turian who watched that heard when they watched it.  But that doesn’t matter, because they know you were happy, you know you were happy, hell it comes through even now. You’re pissed at her, but when you pulled up that recording everything changed.”

                Garrus turned his head, looking at Vega.

                “How could you know?”

                Vega just smiled as he turned his own head, showing a scar behind his ear.

                “It’s one of those new implants. I can hear your subharmonics now. Surprised Lola doesn’t have one,” Vega explained as he ran his finger over the red scar.

                “She can’t undergo the surgery in her condition,” Garrus explained.  “Why would you do that?”

                “Required for my rank,” Vega explained. “Since we’ll now be working closely with your military, the Alliance decided it was a good idea that we could understand _everything_ a turian said to us--especially the stuff that they don’t say.  They’re trying it out on those of us in higher ranks first, since we’re getting the most exposure to turians right now, but if it works well it’ll be something every soldier gets right along with their boots and BDUs when they enter basic.  Well, the implant along with a crash course in understanding the different meanings between the sounds.  Turians are a lot more complicated than I thought.”

                Garrus chuckled. “Not nearly as complicated as humans; how many languages do you people have?”

                “A lot, and no, I don’t know all of them, that’s why I have a translator,” Vega answered. “But at least we don’t say things you can’t hear.”

                “It’s just not fair,” Garrus turned so his back was to the fence.  “We saved the damn galaxy; if it wasn’t for the sacrifices everyone on the _Normandy_ made that woman wouldn’t be alive to spew this shit.  And this is the thanks we get?  She calls me abusive, assumes I’m emotionally, if not physically, keeping Jane here against her will, she blatantly calls Jane weak willed and mentally ill, and we’re just supposed to accept this shit? I can’t stand it!”

                “No one can,” Vega agreed. “And we’ve been working on it.  Her smear campaign isn’t going to go on much longer.  EDI’s been working on some stuff, hacking into Al-Jilani’s servers to try and find the original videos before they were edited.  And Hackett has a whole team of people, legal egg heads and PR gurus trying to take that bitch down. Her days are numbered.”

                “She’s already done so much damage, though.  And what if Hackett does get her taken off the air, someone else is just going to come in and twist that move as a way to prove that the Alliance knows what’s going on and that they approve.  I don’t see how you guys can make this better,” Garrus pointed out.  “And the damage is already done here. Jane thinks I don’t know, but I’ve seen her crying over these things, I’ve felt her cry herself to sleep over it.  She’s lost friends over this.”

                “Damn,” Vega cursed under his breath. “I didn’t think of how bad it would hurt you guys, not until tonight.  Just hang in there, you two know the truth, and that’s all that really matters.”

                Garrus sighed.

                “Wish there was a way to make the world see the truth, though.  Maybe then the death threats would stop.  Maybe then I could contemplate sleeping without a gun under my pillow, my wife wouldn’t have to be armed in her own home.  It’d be nice to not need a bodyguard.”

                Vega chuckled.

                “On that note, why don’t we head back to the house, before Lola decides to come looking for us.”

                They were almost there when they heard a shot ring out.


	5. Chapter 5

                “Shit!” Vega swore as they ran back toward the house. “Shit!”

                “I really hate that I let her talk me into so much land,” Garrus huffed as he topped the hill in the back yard. 

                “Wait, over here,” He motioned for Vega to follow him. “We’re going to need something more than our fists.”

                Garrus threw open the door to the shed and walked in.  On the back wall he pressed a switch and James gawked as the wall swiveled.

                “It’s like something out of an old spy vid,” Vega said, reaching for an assault rifle.

                “They had good ideas in those vids,” Garrus explained as he grabbed a gun for himself.  “Ammo’s in the drawers over there.”

                James walked over to the drawers Garrus indicated, loaded his gun and then put a few more clips in his pants pocket. Just as he was finishing up, Garrus came over to join him, loading his own weapon.

                It took five minutes to run from the back fence up to the shed.  Another two to grab the guns and ammo and they were off again, quickly and quietly working their way to the side yard where the gun shots were coming from, but it felt like an eternity. Garrus could pick out the sound of Jane’s Phalanx as she fired, and he was counting the rounds, knowing she only had the clip in the gun. 

                Four…

                Five…

                Six…

                She had three shots left and then she’d have to switch to the Locust which would only give her 20 more rounds.  They had to hurry!

                He rounded the corner of the house and skidded to a halt as he watched his wife take down a merc.  It had been so long since they’d been in a firefight he’d almost forgotten how beautiful, how graceful she was on the field.  She shot the turian in the knee, dropping him to the ground as she stalked toward him.

                “Who sent you?” She snarled as she grabbed him by his fringe, yanking him forward as she lifted her knee, hitting him squarely in the face.

                The turian growled and struggled as she threw him to the ground, but she subdued him quickly.  Using a move she’d learned from Garrus, she dug one knee into his back between his shoulder blades; the other was planted firmly against his lower spine, between his hips, grinding his pelvis into the ground.

                “I asked you a question!” Her voice was low, menacing, as she yanked the turian’s head up by his fringe. “Who sent you?”

                Garrus ducked back behind the house for cover.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vega cringe.  The human made a hissing noise as he sucked air in through his teeth.

                “Damn that looks painful,” Vega whispered.

                “I taught her that,” Garrus said, unable to keep the pride from his voice. “And, yes, it’s very painful.  He’s going to have quite a few broken plates, assuming he survives.”

                “Purity at any cost!” The merc yelled as he bucked, trying to throw Jane off his back.

                “Dammit!” Garrus growled. “Her center of balance is off; she’s not going to be able to stop him from throwing her.”

                He pulled up his sniper rifle, sighting in on the turian under his wife.  He watched through the scope as Jane fell, landing on her back.  The merc got up quickly, blood pouring from his face where she’d kneed him and pulled a pistol from his hip, aiming it toward Jane, but before he could pull the trigger Garrus sent a bullet flying.  It hit its mark, the mercs head exploding from the force of the round.

                Garrus was moving before the body hit the ground, running to Jane.

                “Jane, love,” He gasped, pulling her up and into his arms. “Are you okay?”

                He ran his hands over her, searching for injuries. 

                “Should I call Chakwas?” Vega asked from behind Garrus as he surveyed the dead bodies in the side yard.

                “No!” Jane said.

                “Yes!” Garrus shouted at the same time.

                “I don’t need a doctor, Garrus,” She said, running her hand along the side of his face. “I’m fine, the baby is fine.”

                “How can you be sure?” He asked, worried.

                “Mother’s intuition,” She offered as an explanation.

                “Vega, call Chakwas,” Garrus said over his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around Jane, picking her up off the ground.

                “Stubborn man,” Jane growled.

                “Crazy woman,” He growled back. “What the hell were you thinking? Hand to hand with anyone in your condition is lunacy, but a turian? That’s suicide! He could’ve killed you!”

                “I know, Garrus, but what was I supposed to do?” Jane pulled him down as she leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together. “I was out of ammo.”

                “What about the Locust?” He asked. He’d only counted eight shots from her Phalanx; it had a nine shot clip.  And he hadn’t heard her shoot the Locust at all.

                “Used it to take the bastards shields out,” She explained. “I put my last round in his knee.”

                “You should’ve put it in his head,” Vega said from behind them. “I called the authorities; they should be here soon. And Chakwas will be landing in under ten minutes.  The Normandy is dry docked in London so she’s not far.”

                “Thanks,” Garrus sighed as he carried Jane through the house toward their bedroom.

                “Garrus, put me down, I can walk on my own,” Jane argued.

                “No.”  There was a note in his voice that said he would brook no argument, he was carrying her and that was final, so she let him. 

~*~

                He stormed through the house, Jane cradled against his chest, mentally kicking himself for leaving her alone.  He should’ve been more persistent with Vega and sent the human back to the house, she wouldn’t have been alone then, she wouldn’t have had to face down an attack on their home without either of the men tasked with protecting her. 

                “Garrus?” She was looking up at him, her hand on the side of his face, her eyes open wide.  He could see the signs of the adrenaline running through her system as her vitals scrolled across his visor’s screen.  Even without that, though, he’d have known.  She was trembling in his arms, her muscles twitching feverishly as they tried to expend the excitement of the firefight.

                “Garrus, look at me,” She said again as he laid her on their bed carefully.  He lifted his eyes to meet hers and knew she saw every emotion he was trying to hide.  He never could hide from her, she read him like an open book.

                “Come here,” She scooted over in the bed, holding her arms out to him.

                “I want to feel you against me. I want to hold you.”

                Those two sentences broke him, tore through the panicked feeling welling up inside him at watching her tackle that intruder.  He climbed into the bed next to her, propping himself against the headboard and helping her to climb between his legs.  He cradled her in his arms, her face pressed against his chest, and threaded his fingers through hers were they rested on her tummy.

                “Spirits, Jane,” He whispered. “When you fell, when he stood over you with that gun, I saw my life end.  I think my heart stopped for a second as I took that shot.”

                “Shh,” She hushed him as she stroked her hand against the side of his neck. “It’s over now. You saved me.”

                “Always got your six,” He whispered against her hair as he nuzzled her.

                “You’re trembling, Garrus.” She was stroking his arms, running her hands from elbow to wrist and back again where they were wrapped around her middle.

                “Adrenaline,” He explained.

                “This has never happened before.”

                “Not in a while anyway,” He chuckled as he held his hand up and watched it tremble. “Too long out of combat, my body doesn’t know what to do now.”

                “Combat? You showed up at the end, after I’d taken care of everything,” She was going for a joking tone, trying to lighten the mood between them, but the way he stiffened behind her told her she’d missed her mark.

                “That’ll never happen again,” He growled, his arms tightening around her.

                “Garrus, I was joking,” She started, but he cut her off.

                “Shut up! I should’ve been here, not off having a damn tantrum.” That edge was back in his voice and it was starting to piss her off. 

                She shoved his arms away, getting off the bed to stand next to it.  With him sitting and her standing they were eye to eye.

                “Let’s get one thing straight,” She growled as her temper flared. “I am not a damsel in distress. I can take care of my damn self! I don’t need anyone hovering over me, and I will not accept you sitting there making this all your fault.”

                Garrus got off the bed then, making her take a step back as he towered over her.  It’d been years since he’d tried to use his size against her, mostly because he knew that it didn’t mean a thing, she wouldn’t hesitate to kick his ass if he stepped out of line.  But they weren’t commanding officer and subordinate any longer, they were husband and wife, partners, a team, and he wasn’t going to have her barking orders at him.

                “It is my job to care for you,” He growled right back at her.  “I failed.”

                “What the fuck macho bull shit is that?” Her voice was rising.  “Your job? Fuck that! I’ve been taking care of myself for a lot longer than you’ve been in my life.  I don’t need anyone to take care of me!”

                Garrus’ response was simple.  He snarled, throwing himself away from her and pacing across their room.  He stopped at the low dresser against the wall, slamming his fist against the top before leaning his elbows there.  He put his head in his hands and she watched as he panted.  He was pissed, furious, but she wasn’t about to back down just because of this little show.

                “You want to be angry you missed a good fight, be angry, but don’t you dare try to turn this into a pity party.  You can’t fail at a task you were never given!” She continued.

                She heard Garrus huff, the noise somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, before he turned to face her.  He wasn’t any less calm, there was a feral look in his eyes, but he seemed to have a better grip on his temper. He was no longer snarling and panting.

                “He had a gun pointed at the baby,” The words were growled, so low Jane almost didn’t hear them.  “Crazy as it sounds, I would probably be handling this better if that pistol had been aimed at your head.  I’ve dealt with that before.  If I’d been a second slower, he would’ve shot you and the child. I would’ve lost both of you in the blink of an eye.”

                Jane looked down to her protruding stomach, laying a hand over it.  She hadn’t realized.  The whole thing had happened so fast.  One second she had the turian pinned to the ground, she had him by his fringe and was getting ready to smash his face against the pea gravel, the next she was on her back, scrambling backwards as he got up and pulled the gun on her.  She didn’t know exactly where he was aiming, from the angle she was at it was impossible to tell.  All she’d seen was barrel, and behind it the turian’s sneer just before his head exploded.

                “I hadn’t realized,” Jane whispered back.

                Suddenly the fit he was having made sense.  He was used to seeing her in danger; he’d seen her stare down the barrel of a gun more than once.  Every time she’d known he was on her six; when she pulled some stupid stunt, he was there to back her up.  She hadn’t given a second thought to their son when she’d gone after that turian, at least not in the sense Garrus was now.  She’d been focusing on figuring out who was threatening them, and she’d assumed her body would protect the baby. 

                “God, Garrus,” She took a step toward him. “I didn’t think.”

                “Oh, that’s pretty obvious.” She ignored his snarky response as she walked toward him slowly.

                “I lost my mind out there, someone had sent them after us and I wanted to know who.  I didn’t think about the danger I was putting myself in, and in the back of my mind I just assumed my body would protect the baby,” She tried to explain.

                “If you’re trying to apologize for scaring me half to the grave, this isn’t the way,” He closed the distance between them, pulling her close.

                “I’m sorry,” She whispered against his chest as she felt his hand cup the back of her head.

                “That was a little better.” He curled his fingers around her hair, used his grip to pull her head back. “But try again, with a bit more feeling.”

                He leaned down toward her, his mouth plates brushing against her lips as he spoke.

                “I am so sorry that I scared you,” She whispered, more breathe than noise, but she knew he heard her.

                He crushed her mouth with his, holding her head still with the grip in her hair as he plundered.  There was a ferocity there that she hadn’t felt in a long time.  He nipped at her bottom lip, opening her mouth as his tongue slid against hers.  They dueled, fighting for dominance as she felt his other hand slide down her body to her rear.  She moaned as he cupped her bottom, yanking her closer to him.

                “Don’t ever do that to me again,” He said as he pulled back from the kiss. 

                He ran his mouth along her jaw, licking down her neck to where it joined her shoulder, nipping lightly as he started walking forward, pushing Jane toward the bed they’d vacated minutes earlier.  He was being domineering, and Jane knew he needed it after tonight’s events.  She let him have the lead, relaxing into his body as his hand released her hair, sliding down her spine to join his other hand on her rear, then lower to her thighs.

                She gasped as he picked her up, supporting her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist, then her world spun as he turned around, dropping down onto the bed with her straddling his lap.  Normally, in this position she was in control, she could set the pace and amount of teasing, but he wasn’t having any of that.  He wrapped his arms around her, sliding his hands up her back until they gripped her shoulders, pulling her back slightly, stretching her over his legs.  He leaned in, nipping down the column of her neck until he reached her shirt. 

                He stopped, sitting her back up and reached for the hem of her shirt.  Carefully he pulled it up and over her head.  He went back to her neck, licking back up to her ear, closing his teeth over the lobe momentarily before he reversed direction and headed back for the flesh he’d freed. 

                “Garrus,” Jane gasped as he nudged the strap of her tank top over her shoulder causing it to hang limply against her arm.

                “Garrus!” This time the alarm in her voice stopped him.

                “Yes, Jane?” He looked into her eyes, curious why she was stopping him.  If the moans coming from her were any indication, she’d been enjoying what he was doing.

                “We have guests,” She hissed.

                “James won’t come in,” Garrus reassured her. Now that Vega had that implant he’d know not to disturb them.

                “No, but I will,” Dr. Chakwas said from the doorway. 

                Jane leaned forward, burying her flushed face against his neck as the doctor entered the room, a medical emergency kit in one hand.  He noticed that she was shaking again, only this time it was with laughter.

                “Figures,” She whispers. “I get you alone and frisky enough to forget that I’m as big as a house and someone walks in on us.”

                “What?” He pulled her away from his neck, making her look at him. “What do you mean by that?”

                “Oh, come on, Garrus, you haven’t touched me sexually in at least a month.  Every time I start something you turn to ice the moment your hand brushes my stomach,” She said as she climbed off his lap and turned her attention to the doctor.

                “So, I assume you’re here to examine me?”

                “That’s right,” Dr. Chakwas nodded. “Garrus, if you’ll excuse us.”

                He was so shocked by what she’d said that he didn’t fight as the doctor led him out of the room before shutting the door in his face.

                He was still standing there, staring at the closed door, slack jawed, a few minutes later when Vega came up to him.

                “Hey, Scars,” Vega slapped him on the shoulder. “You okay?”

                “She thinks I don’t want her,” He whispered, he turned and walked away, heading for the basement.  He needed to think.  He had a problem to fix.

                “What?” Vega dogged his steps, right on his heels as they walked through the house. “I didn’t catch that.”

                “Wasn’t talking to you,” Garrus mumbled. 

                “Maybe you should be.” Vega grabbed Garrus’ arm, stopping him before he made it to the basement door. “Damn it Scars, what the hell is wrong with you?”

                “You and the talking; why are you obsessed with getting me to talk?” Garrus yanked his arm free.

                “Because I can’t read minds,” Vega explained.  “If I could do that “embrace eternity” thing the Doc does, I would. Then you wouldn’t have to tell me what the hell happened in there that has you so spooked.”

                “What is your real purpose here?” Garrus questioned.  “You’re way too curious about what’s going through my head.”

                “I’m here to protect you and Lola,” James quirked an eyebrow, his expression one of confusion. “You know what, fuck this. Never mind, you looked upset and I wanted to help, that’s all, but if this is how you’re going to be, fuck you!”

                Vega turned around, heading toward the shattered patio door.  He stepped through the frame and into the side yard.

                “Wow, Garrus, you’re reaching new levels of asshole right in front of my eyes.”

                He turned at the soft voice to see Liara standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

                “How long have you been here?” Garrus asked.

                “Long enough to see you spit into the face of a friend,” Liara answered.  She had a broom and a dust pan in her hands, the dust pan filled with broken glass from the kitchen window.

                “No, I mean, when’d you get in from London,” Garrus clarified. “I thought you wouldn’t be here for another week.”

                “I hitched a ride with Chakwas when James’ call came in.” She walked away and he could hear a cabinet door open—he really needed to fix that squeak—followed by the tinkling sound of glass falling into the trash.

                “Is there anyone else in my house that I don’t know about?” He asked as she exited the kitchen.

                “Do you have a vacuum or some way I can get the glass out of your carpet?” She ignored his question and started opening doors, looking in the closets for a vacuum.

                “Why are you doing this, Liara?” He asked, as he opened the hall closet and got the vacuum out. “I’ll clean it up once I’m sure Jane is well.”

                “I’m trying to help a dear friend of mine.  Are you going to chomp my head off now, as well?” She sneered.

                “Bite your head off, not chomp.  And no,” Garrus said.  She yanked on the vacuum, trying to take it from him, but he held his ground.

                “I don’t know why I did that,” He explained. “I’m so worried about Jane; I don’t understand why he’s worried about me. I’m fine; I’m not the one carrying our child, so I don’t need to be worried after.”

                Liara gave the vacuum one final yank, jerking it out of Garrus’ hands while he was distracted, then walked over to the mess in the living room.  Searching the walls, she found an outlet and plugged the appliance in but didn’t turn it on.

                “That’s where you’re wrong.  Who’s taking care of Jane? Who’s the one she looks to for strength when she’s tired? Who’s been lying awake at night to keep her propped up so she can sleep peacefully,” She paused to take a breath and he tried to interrupt her. “Nuh-huh, don’t ask me how I know that. It’s not relevant.”

                “I think it is,” Garrus interjected.

                “What I’m saying is that she’s not leaning on me or Vega or Tali or anyone else, she’s leaning on you. She needs you. And while you’re busy looking after her, someone needs to look after you.  Enter your friends,” Liara held her hands out gesturing around her as though the people in question were there. “Though, after that little episode, I think you may be down one.”

                “It wasn’t that bad.”

                She pegged him with a glare that told him he was delusional if he truly believed that without her having to utter a word.

                Rolling his shoulders and neck to try to relieve the sudden tension in them, he headed to the kitchen.  He studiously didn’t look at the mess in the room as he moved to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers—one levo and one dextro.  He told himself he didn’t see the soapy water splashed everywhere, the human blood smeared against the tiles in front of the sink.  He definitely didn’t see the hole in the window that was made by a sniper rifle. 

~*~

                James was sitting on the hill; his back against the shed as he gazed out at the stars.  It was different, being on Earth and looking up at them.  He’d gotten so used to being among the stars that being under them was almost disconcerting.

                “She thinks I don’t want her,” A two toned voice came from the right of him, just before a beer lowered in front of his face.

                The words were simple; an answer to the question he’d asked earlier, but in the sub harmonics James could hear an apology mixed with shame and embarrassment.  After only a day around him, James was getting used to hearing multiple emotions from Garrus, the turian couldn’t seem to agree on just one feeling.  It was always a mix.  James saw it as a great training experience.

                “I’m sorry?” James said. 

                He knew what Garrus meant, but he was hurt.  Ever since that damn implant had gone in, he’d been connecting with his emotions more and reacting to them as well.  He’d thought Garrus was a friend, after everything they’d gone through, he figured the turian could confide in him.  Maybe he was wrong.

                “You asked what had me so spooked,” Garrus explained. “She thinks I don’t want her.  Accused me of getting ‘cold’ whenever we…”

                “Got it,” James cut in, stopping his friend from continuing. 

                “Can I sit?” Garrus asked.

                “It’s your yard,” James reminded him.

                “True,” Garrus chuckled as he sat down. “Why’d you get so upset that I wouldn’t talk to you?”

                James shrugged then took a swig off his beer. 

                “It’s hard to explain.  I’ve been out of sorts ever since they put this thing in.” He tapped behind his left ear for emphasis. “It’s like being deaf and then suddenly being able to hear.”

                Garrus tilted his head, studying Vega for a moment before realization dawned, and he decided to try a little experiment.

                “Jesus Christ!” Vega jumped, putting a hand over his ear.

                Garrus threw his head back, laughing as he realized what Vega’s problem was.  He was so distracted by his revelation he didn’t see the fist that hit him in the shoulder.

                “Ow! Bastard!” Garrus slugged Vega back.

                “Says the one who just blew out my ear drum,” Vega was still rubbing his ear.

                “I did not. You’re just not used to it yet. You’ll learn.”

                “Learn what?”

                Garrus groped for the words he’d need to explain something that was as natural to him as breathing. 

                “Think of a human baby,” Garrus started. “When they’re born they don’t know how to walk, talk, feed themselves, it’s all new and it’s all things they need to learn.  Well, for a turian, we also learn how to read someone’s sub harmonics.  We learn how to tune them out as well.  For me, walking into a room of turians is like you walking into a club, at first it’s all noisy, but then you adjust.  Your brain tells your ears to ignore all the background noise so you can hear the person you’re talking to.  But it’s not something turians are born with, and it’s why parents will keep their young secluded for the first year, only having small gatherings.  If you ever see a turian baby out in public, you’ll notice the child is screaming or crying, it’s because they’re having a sensory overload—sort of what I did to you just now.”

                “Yeah, never do that again,” James growled. “So this is just something I’ll get used to?”

                “Eventually. Maybe.  Or your human brain won’t be able to handle it.  But I don’t see that happening, and once you get used to it, it’ll stop effecting you.  You’ll stop feeling sympathy emotions.  If I’m happy, but you’re angry, you won’t suddenly start feeling happy.  Or if I’m pissed off, you won’t have the urge to go beat someone bloody.”

                Vega nodded and took another pull off his beer.   They sat there like that for a few minutes just staring off into the sky, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

                “Why does she think that?” Vega broke the silence first.

                “Because we haven’t been intimate lately,” Garrus looked down at his beer as he said it.  “And it is partially my fault.”

                “Is it true then?  You’re not attracted to her?” Vega looked over at his friend.  “Because, I have to say, Lola’s hot, even pregnant.”

                “Especially pregnant,” Garrus corrected.

                “So then what’s the problem?”

                Garrus shrugged—a human characteristic he’d picked up in his time aboard the _Normandy_. 

                They sat silently again, Garrus staring down at the grass under him, Vega leaned against the shed, his head back and eyes closed.

                “I’m afraid of hurting her,” Garrus finally confessed.  “Or the baby.”

                “Are you really that rough?” Vega asked then quickly amended. “No, wait, I don’t want to know.”

                Garrus laughed before answering anyway, “No, I know how to be gentle.  I know what those damn gossip magazines say about my species, but most of it is wrong.”

                “Most of it?” Vega raised a quizzical eyebrow. “I probably shouldn’t ask, but I’m going to anyway. What isn’t wrong?”

                “Yes, we do have talons. No, they’re not that sharp.  Yes, some turians do grow theirs long, but most don’t,” Garrus held his hand out, showing Vega his trimmed nails. “They’re really no different than human finger nails.  Maybe a bit thicker, but I’m not going to shred someone like an angry varren.”

                “That’s it?” Vega was genuinely curious now.  He didn’t realize Garrus read those magazines, much less kept track of what they got wrong.

                Garrus sighed before continuing. “Okay, there’s this damn myth about us biting.  While, yes, we do bite—I know you noticed Jane’s scar—it’s a ceremonial thing.  We don’t go off in a fit of pique and bite every woman we sleep with.  We’re not savages.  It’s to show the bond between mates.”

                “So, that scar,” Vega started, not sure how to continue. “You actually…?”

                Garrus gave him a droll stare before answering. “She bit me back.”

                He couldn’t figure out what about it was so funny, but Garrus’ response set Vega off.

                “Funny, Scars, real funny.”

                “No, really, she did,” Garrus leaned down, tilting his head to show a small scar on his shoulder. 

                “So that’s it then, it’s a onetime deal?” Vega asked as he looked at the small scar.

                “Yup, kind of like a wedding night, I guess,” Garrus explained with a shrug.  “Some turians don’t do it anymore, they think it’s archaic.  I gave Jane the option; I wasn’t going to force her.”

                “Okay, so if you’re not a savage, what’s stopping you from taking care of your woman?” James asked. “I mean, you realize that pregnant women are just hormone factories, right?  Horny like rabbits in spring time.”

                “Like what when?” Garrus asked.

                “Rabbits,” Vega repeated. “Next spring you’ll understand when your yard is covered in little fuzzy tailed animals doing it like they do on the discovery channel.”

                “You are making absolutely no sense,” Garrus finished off his beer and set the bottle aside then gestured to Vega’s empty bottle. “I thought you could handle that stuff.”

                “Ha. Ha. I’m not drunk; you’re just not up on human vernacular.  That’s not my fault,” Vega sighed and set his head back against the shed closing his eyes for a moment.

                “Okay, let me try this again,” He began. “And may I mention I can’t believe I’m giving you a health lesson.  Anyway, during pregnancy a woman’s body produces an extremely large amount of hormones.  The same hormones that make her hot normally, only in a much larger quantity; what that means, you dimwit, is that you are wasting your chance to get laid until you can’t walk straight.  And the rest of us who don’t have anyone are both jealous and furious with you.  Stop dicking around and do your wife!”


	6. Chapter 6

                Liara turned off the vacuum and stepped back, surveying her work.  She had vacuumed the whole living room and into the hall way to make sure she’d gotten all the glass out of the carpet.  It would probably be a good idea, though, if everyone wore shoes for a few days until they were sure that some hadn’t slipped past the appliance.

                She was winding up the cord for the vacuum when Dr. Chakwas stepped into the room.

                “Good work, Liara,” The doctor said. 

                “I was hoping we could get someone here this weekend to replace the window and patio door, but that’s not going to happen,” Liara shrugged. “But I was able to get a barrier generator so we’ll be able to keep the house safe until everything is replaced.”

                “Well, that’s something,” Chakwas agreed. “It would’ve been nice to replace the door and window tomorrow so everyone could put this situation behind them. But, Monday isn’t that far off.”

                “No it isn’t,” Liara sat down on the couch and Chakwas came over and joined her.           

                “I made a few calls while you were in with Jane.  Zaeed said he should be here by breakfast tomorrow; Kasumi was with Samara at the monastery so they won’t be here until Tuesday, and I’m waiting on a few others to get back to me with their itineraries.  We should have a full compliment to keep these two safe by the end of the week, though.”

                “Kasumi was with Samara?” Chakwas looked stunned.

                “Yes, I know, it seems odd but I guess they really bonded on the Collector mission and then again during the war.”

                “It’ll be good for Jane and Garrus to have friends around right now,” Chakwas smiled. “I think they both could use a confidant.”

                “Well, as long as James is here, Garrus is set.  I’m just going to hide anything valuable of mine so that it doesn’t get harmed when the antics start,” Liara chuckled. “I haven’t etched my name into everything I own like Jane did.”

                Chakwas leaned against the back of the couch as she laughed.  She’d almost forgotten about that incident on the Normandy. 

                “The thing I don’t understand is how James got into the loft in the first place.  Garrus had the lock on that door so encrypted that even Tali couldn’t figure it out.”

                Liara felt her face flush as she looked away from the doctor.  She nibbled on her lip for a second before finally waving her hand then pointing at herself.

                “I may have…helped…” She confessed.

                “LIARA!” The doctor gasped before falling back in another fit of laughter.

                “What? Garrus had gotten me pretty bad a few times and James’ idea was sound.  How was _I_ supposed to know that he would screw it up and paint the wrong rifle?”

                The doctor shook her head, still chuckling as she got up from the couch.  She turned to Liara and wiggled a finger at her.

                “Just be warned, if Jane ever finds out you were involved in that, even being the Shadow Broker won’t save you.” The doctor’s words were serious but she had a huge grin on her face.  Jane had promised that if she ever found out who’d helped James get into the loft to paint her rifle she would make them pay dearly. 

                “You’re not going to tell her, are you?” Liara asked.

                “Of course not! That stunt was priceless and it needs to remain a mystery.”

                “Thank the Goddess,” Liara sighed and leaned back against the couch.  “So, how is she?”

                “Ehh,” The doctor shrugged sobering instantly as she turned to look toward the hall way. “Physically she’s healthy and the baby is okay, a little shook up, but okay.  But emotionally, I’m not sure. She’s hurting about something.” 

                “Should I get Garrus?” Liara hopped up from the couch, half way to the patio door before Chakwas could stop her.

                “No,” Chakwas said. “I think what she needs right now is time away from him; time that is just about her.  She needs a friend.”

                “Ooh,” Liara turned back around.

                “Most human women are surrounded by friends and family when they’re pregnant,” Chakwas explained. “They have their mother and maybe even grandmother to look to for advice and to help them take their mind off of pregnancy and delivery and dealing with a nervous father to be.”

                “But Jane’s mom…” Liara started but the doctor cut her off.

                “I know, which means she needs someone even more during this time in her life.”

                “I didn’t even think about that,” Liara said. “Asari are so different.  For many, by the time they’re in their matron stage and having children their parents are gone from their life.”

                “Humans are very social creatures,” The doctor said as a way of explanation. “We thrive best in communities, especially in times like this.”

                “So, what should I do?” Liara asked.

                “Just be there for her, talk to her,” The doctor said. “Do what you’ve always done.”

                “I can do that,” Liara said. 

                “Well, I’m out of here; I have to get back to the Normandy.  We’re grounded until Jane has the baby—a certain pilot and his girlfriend refuse to chance missing the birth of the, and I quote, “Galaxy’s cutest baby.”

                “And Hackett can’t order EDI around,” Liara chuckled.

                “He didn’t really fight them; he knows how much everyone from the original crew wants to be here.”

                Chakwas informed Liara that she’d left the emergency medical kit in the hallway, in case it was needed, and made sure Liara had every possible way to contact her if something happened.  They said good bye and the doctor headed to the waiting shuttle.

                Liara stood in the entryway, thinking.  Jane needed a friend, someone to talk to, and someone to confide in.  Why hadn’t she realized that before?  Goddess, those emails from Jane had been her pleading with Liara that she needed someone to talk to that wasn’t Garrus, and Liara hadn’t realized it.  Some days she was still that naïve child that Jane rescued from Therum.

                Deciding that what Jane needed was some girl talk, like they’d done on the Normandy, Liara headed for the kitchen.  She opened the freezer and dug around until she found what she was looking for.  A quick search through the drawers and she had everything they’d need.

~*~

                Jane could hear voices in the living room but she couldn’t make out the words.  It sounded like Chakwas was talking to someone, but it was hard to tell who it was since they were so muffled.  It didn’t really matter anyway, though, since Jane was confined to her bed for the rest of the night.  She felt like a little kid being grounded. Worse, she knew she deserved to be grounded.  She’d been reckless.

                Bed rest.

                Ugh! Just the idea of being stuck sedentary for an undetermined amount of time scared Jane.  She wasn’t someone who sat around; she was a take charge sort of woman.  She barked orders, she ran into the fray and she got things done.

                _Running into the fray is what got you here._ She reminded herself.

                She punched a fist into the bed next to her hip.  She knew she would follow the doctor’s orders, but that didn’t make this any better.  She was going to go stir crazy. It had only been ten minutes since the doctor had left and already she was antsy. 

                Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door frame.  Liara was standing there with a quart of ice cream and two spoons.

                “So, I was thinking,” Liara started. “We haven’t had a good girl’s night in ages.”

                “No, we haven’t,” Jane agreed.

                “And Fleet and Flotilla 2 is available now,” Liara continued.

                “Ooh?”

                “So, what would you and the baby say to ice cream and a vid?”

                “Get over here!” Jane scooted across the bed so Liara could get in.

                Liara chuckled as she walked over to the bed and hopped up next to Jane.  She handed out the spoons then pulled up her omni tool and clicked through a few pages.

                “Ahh! Here we go,” Liara said as she set up the vid. 

                They were barely twenty minutes into the vid when Jane leaned over, setting her head on Liara’s shoulder.

                “I miss Garrus,” Jane sighed.

                “Do you want me to go get him?” Liara offered.

                “No,” Jane sighed again. “Then he’ll be next to me and I’ll be missing him more.”

                Liara pulled away a little bit, tilting her head so she could look at Jane.

                “I don’t understand,” she said.

                “He’s always here, but I miss him. I miss what we used to have.  Now it’s all about the baby, always worrying about the baby.  Will we hurt the baby, is this safe for the baby,” Jane’s voice broke as she started to cry.

                Liara wrapped her arm around her best friend, holding Jane as she cried, her face buried against Liara’s shoulder.

                “I’m sure he doesn’t mean it like that,” Liara said.

                “We haven’t had sex in over a month.  A month, Liara.  There was a time he couldn’t go six hours without me.  But now,” Jane started crying harder. “Now he doesn’t even want me.”

                “I know for a fact that isn’t the case,” Liara said, pulling Jane away from her shoulder so they were eye to eye.

                “Yeah, right,” Jane snorted. “Look at me, Liara! I’m fat.  Turian women aren’t fat.  They have skinny waists and pronounced hips.”

                Jane hopped off the bed, standing in front of her friend, her hands on her waist attempting to emphasize her short comings.

                “They’re tall, and they have fringe.  But me, I’m fat, my waist is gone, my hips are gone, I’m short, and I’m round,” Jane ended with a sigh, her shoulders slumping forward as the tears continued to fall.  “I’m as far from a turian female as he could get.”

                Liara felt paralyzed by grief as she watched her best friend cry.  She’d seen Jane angry, enraged, frustrated, happy, scared, and a myriad of other emotions, but she’d never been witness to sadness this profound from Jane.

                “Jane,” Liara sighed, but Jane cut her off before she could continue.

                “I bet their waists get smaller when they’re pregnant.  If I was turian, he wouldn’t be shying away from me,” Jane sniffled.

                “Do you really believe that?” Liara asked.  She picked her omni-tool up off the bed and turned off the movie.

                “Of course,” Jane snapped. “It’s pretty obvious the problem is me.”

                “Come here,” Liara patted the bed, scooting over to the spot Jane had been in so Jane could get back onto the bed. “I want to show you something.”

                Liara continued to tap through files and folders, entering passwords and encryption codes as she went until finally she found what she was looking for.  Sometimes, it was good to be the Shadow Broker.

                “Look,” Liara enlarged the holo screen so Jane could see the picture without having to hunch over Liara’s omni-tool.

                Jane’s jaw dropped as she took in the image in front of her.  It was a female turian, obviously pregnant, smiling toward the camera.  Her hand was over her stomach, and it was clear she was happy about her impending motherhood.  Jane took in her features, the silvery blue eyes, the blue facial markings, and her height.  She was a female version of Garrus. 

                “Is that…?” Jane gasped

                “Garrus’ mom,” Liara whispered. “When she was pregnant with him.”

                “Where did you get this?” Jane’s hand stretched out toward the image, stopping just shy of it as she traced the woman’s stomach.

                “That’s not really important,” Liara answered. “I’m showing it to you because I think it will help.  You think that Garrus doesn’t want you because of some absurd notion that turian women don’t change when they’re pregnant.  They do.  Every species does.  Well, except Salarians, but that’s because they lay eggs.”

                The image changed, the next showing Garrus’ mom, again, but this time she was sitting down with a younger female turian on her lap.

                “Solana,” Liara said in explanation.

                Garrus’ mom had her arms around Solana, her mandible pressed to the young girl’s forehead while Solana’s hand rested on her mom’s stomach.  Neither was looking at the camera which made Jane think that the picture had been taken secretly.

                The image changed again, the next was another shot of Garrus’ mom standing in profile.  The image reminded her of a few shots that Garrus had been adamant she let him take.  Every few weeks he’d make her stand there, smiling at him, as he snapped a picture of her in profile. 

                The image Jane was looking at had something written at the bottom of it. 

                “What does that mean?” Jane asked, pointing to the characters at the bottom of the image.

                “It says ‘Mialyn- 28 weeks’,” Liara translated.

                Jane continued to stare at the images as they flipped through.  Jane watched as Mialyn transformed through her pregnancy.  Her waist disappeared, her hips were less pronounced because of the extra weight of the child.  It was identical to a human pregnancy.

                “If it’s not the changes, then what?” Jane asked when they came back to the first image.

                “I don’t know,” Liara shrugged.  “But I know it’s not because your body looks different.  Maybe you should talk to him.”

                “Maybe,” Jane sighed.

                They sat quietly as the images cycled a second time; just as it was ending Liara cleared her throat.

                “So, um, I have a few others if you’d like to see them,” She said, sheepishly.

                “Other what? Pictures?” Jane asked, turning to her friend.

                “Yes,” Liara closed the folder they’d been in then opened another. 

                Jane watched the holo screen as the image came up.  It was a young turian that looked very similar to one she knew quite well.

                “Oh my God!” She squealed. “That’s Garrus!”

                Liara nodded, smiling from ear to ear.

                “He was so cute!” Jane giggled.

~*~

                Garrus and James stepped through the broken patio door at the same time and stopped when they heard the giggling.

                “Girls night,” They both said then chuckled.

                “Guess I’m sleeping on the couch,” Garrus said with a shake of the head.

                “Probably, but it’s for a good cause,” James reminded him.  “They’ve both needed this.”

                “They’ll probably be up half the night,” Garrus responded as he headed for the kitchen.  James followed and grabbed a stool in front of the island.

                “That’s okay; they can sleep half the day tomorrow if they need to.”

                Garrus raised a brow plate.

                “Do you really see either of them sleeping half the day away?”

                James thought for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head.  He took the beer that Garrus handed him and popped the top off it.

                “Just like old times, huh, Scars?” James asked with a salute of his beer bottle.

                “Mm-hmm,” Garrus nodded. “They’ve taken over our room and I’m left with you.”

                “Ooh! Ouch!” James held his hand over his heart dramatically. “But I’d expect a low blow like that from the guy who’s about to get his ass handed to him in Galaxy at War.”

                “Really, Vega? Why’s that, did you finally shell out the credits for lessons?”

                “While you’ve been painting nurseries and picking out baby clothes, I’ve been practicing,” James explained as he got up from the stool and headed to the living room.

                “Painting doesn’t take that long,” Garrus shot back as he walked out of the kitchen behind James. “And Jane’s been picking out the clothing.  I’ve actually had quite a bit of free time on my hands.”

                James snorted as he set the game up. 

~*~

                Hours later, Liara quietly walked from Jane and Garrus’ room to the living room.  As she expected, he was sleeping on the couch.

                “Garrus?” She whispered, touching his shoulder lightly.

                “Wha!” He shot straight up on the couch, his hand sliding under his pillow toward his sidearm.

                “Woah!” Liara grabbed his arm before he could pull the gun out. “It’s just me.”

                “Oh, Liara,” He relaxed, leaning back. “Why are you up? Do you need something?”

                “I’m just heading to bed.  Jane’s asleep already, but I thought I’d let you know that you could go sleep in your own bed.”

                “Ok, thanks,” Garrus rubbed a hand over his face and into his fringe.  He scratched at a space in the fringe as he yawned.

                “Garrus?”

                “Hmm?” He asked as Liara sat down next to him.

                “I wanted to talk to you about Jane,” Liara began.

                “What about her?” He turned a bit on the couch so he was facing Liara.

                “She was really upset earlier tonight—worried that you don’t want her anymore.  I told her that wasn’t the case.  Was I lying?”

                Garrus gawked at Liara.  He wasn’t used to her being so forward.

                “Am I dreaming? Did you just ask me if I’m still attracted to my wife?”

                Garrus looked down at his arm, wondering if the human concept of pinching himself to see if he was asleep would work.

                “You’re awake,” Liara chuckled. “And, yes, that is exactly what I just asked.  Jane seems to think that you’re not attracted because her body has changed with the pregnancy.  She has it in her mind that if she were turian the changes wouldn’t bother you.”

                “That’s insane!”

                “Not to someone who’s feeling neglected and unwanted,” Liara pointed out.

                “Spirits!” He said under his breath. “I know I’ve been a little…withdrawn…but it’s not because I don’t want her.  It had nothing to do with that.”

                “Are you sure?”

                “Yes!” Garrus looked up at her, distress showing on his face and in the way his mandibles fluttered and flared wildly.

                “Okay,” Liara nodded sharply, once. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

                Liara got up from the couch and headed toward the hallway.

                “Liara?” Garrus called, stopping her.

                “Yes?”

                “Thanks.”

                He wanted to say more.  He felt like he needed to say more, but nothing came to mind.  He was grateful that she’d taken the time to talk to him.  He knew that Jane thought he didn’t want her, she’d been pretty clear about that, but he hadn’t realized she was hurting because of it.

                Spirits, he was an idiot. 

                “You’re welcome,” Liara smiled, as though she knew exactly what he meant with that one word, then disappeared around the corner.

                His brow plates shot up when he heard the door to Vega’s room open then close a few moments later.

                _Vega and Liara?_ He thought to himself as he got off the couch and folded up the blanket he’d been using.

                _Whatever makes them happy._ He decided as he gathered up the pillow and blanket and brought them to the hall closet.  Once they were put away, he snuck into his bedroom, quietly walking to the bathroom and got ready for bed.  He went through his nightly routine quickly, washing his face, brushing his teeth, and stripping down before heading toward the bed.

                He was just crawling under the blankets when Jane stirred.

                “Garrus?” She whispered as she rolled over.

                “Right here, love,” He assured her as he reached through the blankets for her.  He hooked his arm around her waist and tugged her across the mattress until her back was pressed to his front.

                She snuggled against him, her bottom rubbing against his pelvis as she settled down.

                “I miss you,” She murmured.

                “I’m right here,” He soothed as he pressed his mouth against her temple.  It wasn’t a kiss but it was the closest he could come to one without lips.               

                She rolled over so she was facing him where he laid on his side, tugged the small pillow they kept on the bed down until it was between her cheek and the plates covering his upper arm, then threw her leg over his hip.  He ran his hand—the one connected to the arm she wasn’t laying on—from her shoulder to her hip, enjoying the dips and curves of her body, as she fell back to sleep. 

                He rubbed his face against her hair, taking in the scent of her shampoo mingled with an exotic note that was specific to his wife.  There were so many thoughts running through his mind, so many things he wanted to say to her. 

                But if he knew Jane, and after all the years they’d been together he’d like to think he did, just telling her that he wanted her wasn’t going to be enough to reassure her.  He needed to find a way to show her. 

                “How am I supposed to prove to you, Jane,” He whispered into her hair. “That I want you.  You drive me to distraction constantly.  Turians aren’t supposed to be used to walking around with their plates loose, you know, and yet I am.  You do that to me, woman,” He paused again, running his hand down her body once more. “You drive me insane.  Every time you look at me I forget how to breathe.”

                She muttered in her sleep incoherently and he smiled.

                “Why can’t I figure out how to tell you this when you’re awake?”  His hand moved up to cup her face and he traced her cheek bone with his thumb.  She leaned into his hand with a sigh and his heart seized momentarily.  She was the center of his universe, the sun he revolved around.

                _I should write greeting cards._ He thought to himself with a wry smile. 

                Jane sighed again, burrowing deeper into the pillow under her cheek as a shiver ran through her body and he watched the skin on her arm, which was uncovered, as goose bumps pimpled the surface.

                He pulled the blankets up over her shoulders, tucking them, and himself, tightly around her.

                “Sleep, love, we can worry about this tomorrow.” And with that he closed his eyes and dozed off.


	7. Chapter 7

The quiet click as their bedroom door closed woke Garrus. Rolling over, he checked the bedside clock—he'd only been asleep a few hours, but it didn't shock him that Jane was up already. They'd been civilians for six months now, hardly enough time to break any old habits and both were still used to waking early. The fact that the sun wasn't up yet didn't bother either of them since space was always dark.

_Should I get up and follow her?_  He thought to himself. It would be the perfect time to talk about everything that was going on in their lives. But maybe she wanted time to herself. He didn't want to come across as overbearing.

He rolled onto his back, adjusting his pillow behind his head to accommodate his fringe and stared up at the ceiling. To wander out and check on her, possibly open up a dialogue about his fears and try to put some of hers to rest, or to lay here and gather his thoughts and hope that he got a better chance later to talk to her.

"Now," He said to himself as he rolled out of bed. He pulled on a pair of soft pants made of some material that Jane said felt like flannel and headed out of their room.

As he walking through the living room he saw her sitting out on the patio. She was perched on the steps that lead from the deck to the grass, her hand with the cup of tea tucked snuggly against her upper arm, the warm cup pressed against her clavicle. It was something she did if she was lost in thought. And it didn't have to be a cup, more than once he'd found his hand pressed there because she'd been holding it and drifted off into her thoughts.

He made a bee line for the kitchen, deciding that a cup of tea wasn't a bad idea. If he was being honest with himself, he really didn't want the drink, but the time it would take to prepare it was more time he had to prepare himself for the upcoming conversation.

_Come on, Vakarian,_ he goaded himself.  _You faced down reapers. You fought through London, solo, to find her and save her. But now you're afraid to talk to her?_

He could smell her tea, a mix of herbs and citrus, before he got to the kitchen, and just as he'd suspected, she'd made a whole pot even though she was the only one awake to drink it. He pulled down a mug and poured some for himself, thankful he wasn't allergic to levo amino acids in any capacity. Once his mug was full he went back to the living room and stepped through the hole that was once their patio door. He knew she heard him. Her posture may not have given anything away, but he knew her well enough to be confident that she was aware of him.

He sat down on the step next to her.

"Morning," He said, staring down at his cup of tea.

"Good morning," She responded, still staring out at the back yard. "I didn't wake you when I got up, did I?"

"Not exactly," He paused to blow on his tea, watching the steam rolling away from it and into the cool morning air. "I woke up when I heard the bedroom door close."

"Oh," She responded. She hadn't turned to look at him; her eyes were still on the horizon and slightly glazed over. She was holding a conversation with him but her mind was elsewhere.

_Well, here goes nothing,_  Garrus thought as he took a drink of the tea. It wasn't his favorite, but it wasn't bad. He just preferred less orange in his tea.

"Spirits, Jane! I was at the fence line when the first shot was fired! I was over two acres away from you!" He began. He didn't take his eyes off his drink as he spoke.

He turned to her then, setting his mug of tea down behind himself and grabbing her by the shoulders, turning her to him.

"I was so far away and all I could to was run toward you and hope I got here before you got hurt or worse. All I could think was that every breath I took might be your last. I wasn't here and I should've been." She opened her lips to say something—probably to remind him that she can take care of herself—but he didn't let her. He pressed his mouth plates to her lips, silencing her.

They stayed like that for long moments, their mouths pressed together, one of his hands moved up from her shoulder to the back of her neck, keeping her close. He didn't deepen the kiss, as much as his body was screaming at him to do so, because he knew if he did he'd be lost and he didn't know when he'd get another chance to tell her everything.

He slowly pulled back, tilting his head until their foreheads pressed together, he nuzzled against her lightly.

"I know you can take care of yourself," He said once he caught his breath. "Logically, I knew you were capable of handling the situation yesterday, but logic doesn't play into emotions. My brain wasn't working, all I felt was fear. I love you, Jane."

"I love you too, Garrus," A small smile tugged at her lips as she answered.

"I can't live without you," Garrus growled. "I refuse to."

"I'm sorry I scared you last night," Jane apologized again.

"No!" His tone was stern even as his voice was low so as not to disturb the intimacy of the situation. "I don't want you to apologize! Last night you did and it didn't make me feel any better. You shouldn't ever apologize for doing what you have to. I'm not bringing that up because I want you to say sorry."

He sighed. He had so many things he wanted to say, but he'd been hoping to have time to practice this speech. He didn't want it to be laced with left over anxiety and fueled by panic; he wanted it to be romantic. He wanted it to be perfect. Wasn't he supposed to be showing her that he was still attracted to her, that she drove him crazy, that he couldn't live without her? How did he end up here, rehashing the past evenings feelings?

"This isn't how I planned this conversation to go," He let his head drop, their foreheads parting. "I don't know where all of this is coming from. This isn't even what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Garrus," Jane's hand came up to the side of his face, fitting itself to the curve of his mandible. "Look at me."

She applied the slightest pressure with her hand, prompting him to pick his head up.

* * *

Liara had meddled. It hadn't been what Jane wanted, but she knew Liara had said something to Garrus. She sort of expected it after her break down the night before, and while a part of her had been hoping that Liara would step in, would talk to Garrus, the rest of her was hoping she wouldn't.

Yes, she felt a little neglected. Yes, she was upset that he didn't seem interested in her. But she was afraid that if someone else stepped in, or heck, even if she was the one to say something, that the situation would be worse. She didn't know how Garrus would handle being told that she was upset, that she felt neglected. Would he talk to her rationally or would he do something outrageous in an attempt to prove himself? If he found out that she felt like he wasn't attracted to her, that she was afraid she didn't turn him on anymore would he grab her and ravish her?

Did she want him to?

That was the real question. Did she want him to act like the last month hadn't happened and just jump back into bed, back into stealing her away whenever he wanted her?

Oh there was no doubt she was horny. Her hormones were set to overdrive and she was so sexually frustrated it was becoming painful. But she didn't want a sacrificial lamb or turian in this case under her. She wanted to know, no, she  _needed_ to know that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She needed to know that he wasn't just doing this to take care of her.

She realized that she'd been sitting there and hadn't said anything when she felt Garrus' mandible flutter against her palm. The slight twitch caused by a sigh as he met her eyes.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Garrus," Jane finally asked. She tilted her head, her hair falling down over her shoulder as she stared at him.

"I don't know what to do, Jane," Garrus sighed again. "I've got this problem and there's no easy solution. I'm afraid to do anything because I don't want to make it worse."

"Want to talk about it?" Jane smiled. She knew what problem he was talking about, but this was common for them. It was sometimes easier to edge around the problem, keep it in the cross hairs, but not shoot it outright. Communicating was hard for them, still, but they were working on it.

Garrus chuckled, the sound coming from low in his chest, rumbling out.

"I don't even know where to start," He finally answered.

"The beginning?" Jane offered. "Or the middle if you'd prefer. Wherever is eas…"

Garrus' omni-tool pinged, cutting Jane off.

"Ugh!" Garrus growled.

"Callus?" Jane asked as she peered at his omni-tool.

"Who else would call me this early in the morning?" Garrus rolled his head back so he was looking to the sky. "Spirits give me strength," He whispered before looking back down at his omni-tool and answering the call.

"Do you know what time it is?" He growled as Callus' face floated above his wrist.

"One in the afternoon, sir," Callus replied quickly.

"…On Earth?"

"Oh! Oh, no! I didn't wake you, did I? Oh, Spirits, I'm so sorry Primach Vakarian," Callus babbled.

Jane covered her mouth with her hands, trying to stifle the laugh that was bubbling up her throat as Callus stuttered. But the moment he called Garrus "Primarch" the humor of the moment fell away. She shot up, leaning over Garrus' shoulder so she could look at Callus.

"Primarch?" She asked at the same time Garrus did.

"Yes," Callus looked between Jane and Garrus, not sure who to answer. "Didn't Councilor Victus tell you? His Primacy was always temporary, any Primarch appointed during war time is expected to step down once the fighting has ended, and you knew this, Sir."

"Well, sure, I know the laws," Garrus answered.

"And after a thorough accounting of all the clans, yours was next in line," Callus went on.

"But shouldn't my father take this position?" Garrus stared, flabbergasted at the turian on the other end of the call.

"He declined."

"He declined?" Jane gawked. "They can do that?"

"He stated his age as the reason," Callus went on. "He felt that someone younger and more adept in terms of galactic peace keeping—someone who had a positive relationship with the humans—would be better suited. He suggested you."

Jane was back to giggling.

"Adept at galactic peace keeping?" She snorted. "Garrus?" Another giggle.

Holding her stomach, Jane leaned away from Garrus to rest against the railing of the stairs while she chuckled.

He glared at her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked her.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," She cleared her throat and tried to squelch the next round of giggles. "But…well…I did save you from three angry merc groups on Omega. Not a lot of peace being made there."

"This from you!" He shot back.

"Hey! I united the whole galaxy to fight the reapers." Jane pointed at Garrus, still smiling.

"With the barrel of your gun," Garrus reminded her.

"Not true! I used my biotics sometimes," She smiled sweetly at him then and he rolled his eyes.

"There is the matter of good relations with the humans, which you can't deny you  _do_  have," Callus cut in. "You married one."

"And pissed off a lot of turians in the process," Jane pointed out. "Or was last night's showing just a practical joke?"

"What happened last night?" Callus asked.

"It's nothing," Garrus started to say but Jane spoke over him.

"A turian supremacy group attacked our home. Don't know how they got the address; we're still working on that."

"Spirits," Callus gasped. "Are you alright, sir?"

"It wasn't me they wanted dead," Garrus spat out. "So, yes,  _I'm_  fine."

"Well if it wasn't you," Callus asked. "Then who?"

Jane poked her head back into the view of the camera and pointed at herself.

Callus' 'Oh' was barely audible and Garrus and Jane watched his face morph, his eyes bulging as he took in the implications of the attack.

After a moment of shock, Callus swallowed and went on.

"Okay, we need to get a security force out to you. These weren't the types of details I was expecting to go over with you right now, but it seems this is more important than the ceremony. We can talk about that more once you reach Palaven."

"I'm not going to Palaven," Garrus cut in. "And you aren't sending a security force."

"I can have a shuttle to your home within the hour, is that enough time for you and your wife to pack?" Callus went on as though Garrus hadn't said a word.

"We are not going to Palaven," Garrus repeated.

"One military unit should be enough to protect both of you, yes?" Callus wasn't even looking at the camera, and clicking could be heard just off screen.

"CALLUS!" Garrus barked.

"Yes?" The turian looked back to the camera.

"We are not going to Palaven." Garrus glared at the man as he repeated himself, again.

"Yes, you are," Callus answered. "The ceremony is always held on Palaven."

"Callus, we'll call you back," Jane said as she reached forward and tapped Garrus' omni-tool to end the call.

"I guess we could go after the baby is born," Jane spoke to Garrus after they were alone.

"No, that wouldn't work," Garrus turned to face Jane. "Laws say, with the exception of war time, the ceremony has to be held within a certain amount of time. Technically it's me accepting this title."

"There's a time limit?" Jane asked.

"Yes, it's an old law, back when clans still fought over who would be the next in line, they had a certain amount of time to prove they were next and then for the candidate from their clan to accept," Garrus waved his hand as though he was brushing away the whole thing. "It's stupid, especially since I haven't accepted yet."

"Well, so, decline it," Jane said. "If you don't want the position, don't take it. There's nothing that says you have to."

"Declining would shame my clan," Garrus tried to explain.

"But it didn't shame your clan when your father declined?" Jane was trying hard to understand this. She didn't want to see him take a position he didn't want to take.

"My father declined due to his age and he put me up as his successor, it's different. I don't have an offspring to name as successor so if I decline it's the end for my clan," Garrus sighed. "It's a great honor, Jane. As a young boy, I dreamed of being Primarch."

Sighing to herself, Jane reached forward and grabbed onto the railing to pull herself to standing. Garrus reached forward, putting a hand to her lower back and helping her up.

"Ugh," She groaned. "I can't wait to be able to stand up on my own, again."

"Almost done," Garrus murmured as he rubbed his hand against her stomach.

Jane patted his hand against her stomach then turned and walked back into the house. She had her empty cup in her hand and was heading for the kitchen.

"So, back to this Primarch thing," Jane said as she walked into the kitchen and poured herself another cup of tea then waddled over to one of the stools next to the island. "It would be a childhood dream come true?"

"When I was young I only saw the glory and the glamour," Garrus said with a shrug, filling his own cup before joining her. "Now, I know the truth."

"It's not all glitz and fancy parties," Jane nodded. "It's a big responsibility."

"Huge," Garrus agreed. "And yet, part of me wants to take it."

"So do it," Jane encouraged. "You'll do great."

Garrus gave a dismissive snort and Jane reached across the island, wrapping her fingers around his.

"You'd be a great leader."

"Like I was back on Omega?" Garrus looked down at their joined hands. "Everyone died, Jane. Remember? Everyone. And it was my fault."

"Part of what makes a leader great, Garrus, is that they've stumbled, they've made mistakes, they've had horrible things happen under their command, but they continued on anyway. They learn, and they take that knowledge and put it to good use," Jane squeezed his fingers. "Omega sucked, but you did everything you could, and you've learned from that."

"I don't know," Garrus started but Jane cut him off again.

"Remember the collector base?" Jane asked then continued when he nodded. "I wanted you at my back so bad, but I knew that wasn't what the mission needed. That second team needed a leader, and you were the man for the job."

"Well, your choices were pretty slim," Garrus huffed.

"No they weren't," Jane scowled at Garrus. "Zaeed's led men into combat, Thane would've done fine, and there was always Miranda, or Samara, or Tali. They all would've gotten the job done. But you, you didn't just get it done; you got every single one of them through there to the other side without a scratch on anyone."

Garrus rubbed the back of his neck.

"And what about Menae? Excuse me, Mr. Got-His-Own-Task-Force?"

"And what good was it? What good did I do?" He asked. "The reapers still overran Palaven and Menae."

"But not as quickly as they could have. How many turians were evacuated because you and your task force had made preparations?"

"I need to think about this," Garrus pulled his hand back from her and stood up. He walked over to the sink and deposited his cup. "I'm going to go make a call."

"Victus?" Jane asked just as Liara entered the kitchen.

"He's got some 'splainin' to do," Garrus said in his best impersonation of Rico from "I Love Lucy", an old Earth sit-com before he leaned down and pressed his forehead to Jane's.

"Be kind," Jane reminded him as she sat up and pecked a kiss on his mandible.

"Why? He just dumped this in my lap," Garrus chuckled again but gave in at her scowl. "Okay, okay, I'll only yell at him a little."

"Yell at whom?" James asked, entering the kitchen and making a bee line to Liara who was making a pot of coffee. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down to drop a kiss on her neck and Jane hid her smile behind the rim of her cup as she watched the asari blush.

"Victus," Garrus said as he stepped away from Jane and headed out of the room.

"Isn't yelling at the Primarch a bad idea?" James directed his question toward Jane as he watched Garrus leave.

"Then Victus better not yell back," Garrus spoke up to be heard as he walked away.

"Did I miss something?" James asked as he started at the doorway out of the kitchen.

"Callus finally got a hold of him, I take it." Liara was leaning against the counter by the sink, waiting for the coffee pot to finish brewing.

"About ten minutes ago," Jane answered. "Did you know about this?"

"I may have heard something," Liara hedged. Jane just raised an eyebrow, as she took another sip of her tea.

"It wasn't my place, Jane," Liara answered Jane's unspoken question. "Just because I'm the ShadowBroker doesn't mean I'm going to go sticking my nose into everything."

"Actually," James spoke up from where he was bent over digging in the refrigerator. "Isn't that exactly what you do? Don't you have spies…"

" _Informants_ ," Liara corrected.

"…Fine, informants, in every major political organization or government in the galaxy?" James finished his original statement.

"No, James," Jane cut in. "It's fine. I understand what Liara is saying. Yes, she may have known this was coming, but it isn't her place to say anything. If she begins to meddle too much she will make her presence too known. It's better if she stays off the grid for the most part, only selling information where she needs to."

"If I arbitrarily give information out without it being requested I could give away my informants' positions. I would start to lose information. I have to keep a low profile, even among my friends," Liara added.

"Have you had information about me that you didn't share?" James asked. He was busy scrambling eggs while a frying pan heated up on the stove top.

"Nothing of great importance," Liara answered honestly. "I knew about your promotion before you did, but I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise."

"My job is to keep tabs on the galaxy, filing away information that may be useful, but never getting openly involved," Liara continued. "I lose my credibility if it starts to look like I favor one organization or government more than another."

"You knew?" James asked, still stuck on the fact she knew about his promotion.

"How do you think your uncle and grandmother made it to the Citadel in time?" Liara answered his question with one of her own.

James set the bowl of eggs he'd been beating down on the counter and walked across the kitchen until he was right in front of Liara.

"The last minute passage you found them from Earth to the Citadel…" He began.

"I'd booked that a few weeks prior," Liara was blushing again, staring down at her feet as she spoke to him. "But I swear that was the only thing I kept from yo….ah!"

Her sentence cut off with a squeak of surprise as James wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and kissing her soundly on the mouth.

"Thank you!" He said against her lips before kissing her again.

_Okay, Jane, time to get out of here before you see more than you want to,_ Jane thought to herself as she hopped off her seat. She turned off the burner under the frying pan before quickly waddling out of the kitchen and heading for her bedroom.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also known as "That time I tried to write smut..."

_Then Victus better not yell back,_ Garrus had said in regards to James' comment about it being a bad idea to yell at the Primach. Apparently Victus had heard him as well, because the older turian hadn't raised his voice at all through the call, even as Garrus railed at him. He was upset that Victus hadn't warned him. He knew that Victus' Primacy was coming to an end, and that there was a possibility—slim, but still a possibility—that his clan could be next in line, but he thought that his friend would've at least given him a heads up.

Victus had allowed him to vent, had heard him out, and then had promptly told him to "grow a fucking quad."

Garrus chuckled as he sat in the basement, dismantling his sniper rifle at his work table while he reflected on his conversation with Victus.

_"This isn't about you, Garrus," Victus had growled. "It was never about me, and it's not about you. Stop taking this personally. This is about the Turian people as a whole. Neither of us is a perfect turian, and maybe an imperfect turian, one who has the—oh how would your human friend put it, cajones?—to marry a human, to allow her to be impregnated with another man's seed so that they could have a child is the only person able to bring peace to the hearts of our people. The turian people need to see someone strong, someone who isn't afraid to embrace change. You walked through hell for our people, but you're afraid to lead them?"_

_"I didn't have a choice in that," Garrus reminded Victus. "Jane was walking into hell and I'd be damned if my mate was going to face whatever awaited her without me at her back."_

_Victus had only smiled when Garrus brought Jane up. Unbeknownst to Garrus, he'd just proven Victus' point._

_"You'll do fine, Garrus," Victus had reassured him._

_Garrus had given a snort at that. Yeah, he'd do fine. Why did everyone else believe that, but he couldn't._

_"You'd be a horrible leader if you didn't question your abilities," Victus answered and Garrus realized he'd spoken out loud. "I take it you already talked to Jane about this."_

_Garrus had gone on to explain that Jane had been sitting next to him when Callus called so she found out at the same time he did. When Victus asked what Jane's thoughts on it were, Garrus answered honestly. She would support any choice he made, like she always did._

_"Are you honestly thinking of declining this?" Victus finally asked._

_Garrus shrugged before answering. "What happens to Jane if I take this? She can't spend any significant amount of time on Palaven, and when our children are young they won't be able to spend any time there, so when I'm called home for Sessions I'll have to leave my family behind. She will have to raise our children alone."_

_"That bothers you." It was a statement, not a question, but Garrus answered it as though it was._

_"Of course it bothers me!" He growled. "My father was always gone, working on the Citadel with C-sec or within the military when I was young. I wanted him home, I saw how hard it was on my mother to miss him, to shoulder the burden of raising children alone, of making every major decision on her own, and I don't want to put Jane through that. I remember what it felt like to miss my father, to wish he was there, to regret the times he came home because they would never be long enough. I don't want to put my children through that!"_

_Garrus paused to catch his breath and felt a pain in his chest he hadn't felt in a long time. He barely registered Victus' thoughtful hum before he continued._

_"Do you know how hard it was to be the son of Alitus Vakarian?" Garrus asked quietly. "War hero, C-Sec executor, all around perfect turian, and I was his son. I don't want my son to resent that he was born the son of the Primach like I resented being my father's son. I don't want him to have to question his every action, to wonder if following his dreams will bring shame to his name."_

Garrus stared down at the rifle pieces in front of him, realizing he'd barely been concentrating on the task at hand as he thought about his conversation with Victus and the true implications of what he'd said.

_"Have you told your mate about these fears?" Victus had asked him when Garrus had confessed his fears for his son._

_"I don't know how," Garrus sighed, his shoulders slumping further, his head bowed, and his subharmonics rumbling quietly with apprehension, fear, and confusion._

_"May I give some advice, not as a citizen to the Primarch, but as a friend?" Victus had asked, his subharmonics humming respect and compassion._

_"Please," Garrus had begged, desperate for any advice._

_"Tell her everything you just told me. Lay it all out in front of her," Victus began but Garrus cut him off._

_"I can't do that! She's going through enough with the pregnancy, she's under enough stress from the paparazzi, she doesn't need my insecurities as well," Garrus growled._

_"Boy, you are so young," The older turian had growled, moving closer to the camera as he shifted in his chair. "Shut up and listen for a minute."_

_"Years ago," Victus had begun. "I received some advice that I didn't understand until it was almost too late. I'm giving it to you, now, and I hope you realize it's importance sooner than I did. The advice came from a human—of all things. It was about twenty years ago," Victus stopped, gathering his thoughts for a moment and sighing. "I was sitting alone in a Citadel café and this man came up to me. He sat down across from me at the table and just watched me. He didn't seem hostile and I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to really care about him, so I ignored him, figuring he was just a lost human who'd never seen a turian up close before. Suddenly he spoke:_

_'What has you so troubled?' he'd asked me, jerking me out of my thoughts._

_'My mate,' I'd answered without thinking. This human just had an air around him that calmed me, but I didn't know why. It was a puzzle. Anyway, he stared at me a moment longer before asking again._

_'Are you newly mated?'_

_'About a year, but we've been friends for much longer.'_

_'So you know her well?'_

_'I thought I did.'_

_'What changed?'_

_'I impregnated her.'_

_The man had thrown his head back, then, laughing loudly._

_'Some things are the same no matter the species, then,' The man said when he calmed down."_

_Victus paused there to laugh as he thought back on the exchange with this odd human._

_"Anyway," Victus started back up again. "I relayed to him that I was worried about our child. I was worried about my mate and about our lives as a whole and the man asked me why I was sitting in a café, alone, when I should be with my mate. He asked why I was telling him, a total stranger, what I should be telling my mate, and I growled at him because he obviously didn't understand. I was her mate; I was supposed to be strong. What sort of mate would I be if I burdened her with my own worries when she was pregnant, when her body was already so stressed? He laughed at me again._

_'Another thing our species have in common,' the man had chuckled. 'Allow me to give you some advice, young turian, go to your mate, talk to her about your worries, share with her your fears as much as you share your strength and you will find that you both will be stronger for it.'_

_"So, did you?" Garrus interrupted to ask._

_"Not at first," Victus looked away from the camera, presumably looking at the picture of his mate that he kept on his desk. "I didn't understand how sharing my fears would make both of us stronger. It wasn't until weeks later, when I was again sitting alone in that café, at this point my mate had gone back to Palaven to be with her family, that I realized what he meant. Something Viona said kept pinging around in my brain. The last thing she'd screamed at me before she walked out of our apartment and left me drove the man's point home._

_'You never talk to me, Adrian!' Viona screamed. 'How can I tell you how I feel when you don't tell me anything? You sit there, surrounding yourself with your blasted turian pride, hiding behind your strength, but you're weak. You can't even trust me!'_

_"I never thought she'd take my silence, my lack of communication, to mean that I didn't trust her. I thought she knew that I was trying not to burden her. By keeping my fears to myself I had caused more doubt within her. By being strong, by trying to protect her I had done nothing more than hurt her."_

_"Spirits," Garrus had gasped._

_"Talk to Jane. There is no shame in showing your mate your weaknesses. We vow to give our whole self to our mates in a moment of happiness, but its times like now that our vows are tested. Do you have the strength to show your mate that you are weak?"_

Garrus set the scope he'd been modding down on his work table and shot up from the stool he'd been sitting on.

_Oh spirits!_  He thought to himself. He'd been doing to Jane exactly what Adrian did to Viona. He had been pulling away for fear of hurting Jane physically, he'd been bottling up his fears to as not to burden her, and in the end she doubted her ability to please him as her mate. She doubted his ability to trust her. And yet, she still believed he would be a great leader. Even with all her doubts about her own abilities—doubts he was solely responsible for causing—she still believed in him.

With that realization banging around in his skull he ran up the stairs to find his mate, to reassure the woman who had his heart wrapped around her little finger, that he did trust her, that he did want her, and to beg her to forgive his stupidity.

Yes, he did have the strength to be weak in front of Jane.

* * *

Jane froze in her tracks as she stepped out of the bathroom. She had a towel wrapped around her body, another in her hands as she squeezed and rubbed the water out of her hair. Sitting at the foot of their bed, staring directly at the bathroom door, was Garrus.

"Garrus?" Jane asked. Something was different about the look in his eyes, there was a determination there that she hadn't seen in a while.

"Do you remember what I said when I gave you this?" Garrus asked, holding up Jane's wedding band, the head stone glistening in the sunlight pouring through their bedroom window.

"Of course," Jane answered, remembering their wedding day. They'd stood on the beach; the white sand sparkling around them, as Garrus had carefully spoke the traditional Christian vows that Jane had always dreamed of hearing. Granted, her dreams hadn't always had a turian in them, but dreams changed as a person grew.

"It would seem I didn't really understand them at the time,' Garrus murmured as he stood up from the bed and walked toward her.

Jane stood frozen in her spot watching as Garrus stalked toward her. He was the graceful apex predator she'd met on the Citadel years ago, standing to his full height, his shoulders set back, his back straight and when he finally reached her he dropped to his knees, shocking a gasp from her.

"Garrus?" She wanted to ask him what he was doing, why he was before her in such a submissive posture, one she knew no turian would ever take unless there was good reason, but the words froze in her throat.

He reached forward, taking her left hand in his, running his talons along the tops of her fingers as he slipped the band up her fourth finger. Just as it passed over her second knuckle he looked up at her and whispered those vows again.

"I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

Jane sniffled as she felt tears welling behind her eyes. She didn't understand what had gotten into him, but he was yanking at her already tender emotions, bringing them to their knees and her with them.

She reached for him, pulling him up to his feet and wrapped her arms around his neck, the tears streaming down her cheeks and onto the plates of his chest.

"I'm so sorry," Garrus whispered, holding her close as he ran his hand down her damp hair, carefully threading his talons through the strands, parting the curls and watching them wind around his digits.

"Forgive me, Jane," He begged. "Forgive me for not trusting you. Forgive me for being a stubborn idiot."

"What are you talking about, Garrus?" Jane asked pulling her tear streaked face from his chest to stare up at him in confusion.

"Turians place so much importance on keeping up the image of strength, even in the face of uncertainty," Garrus tried to explain.

"I know that, Garrus," Jane smiled. "I married a turian, remember?"

"Heh," Garrus chuckled, his subharmonics pitching higher into levels of embarrassment. If he could, he'd be blushing. "So you did."

"But what does that have to do with anything? What brought on this rush of guilt? I'm not saying that what you just did wasn't romantic as hell—because it was—but I just don't understand," Jane said, running her hand down his chest, letting her nails drag along the crevices between the plates, scratching lightly at the hide below. She felt a low rumble starting in his chest, and smiled to herself.

"You mentioned last night that I've been cold with you, withdrawn. Liara said that you felt neglected, unwanted, that you thought the way your body was changing was turning me off to you," He broke off with a sigh, burying his face in her neck and breathing in her scent—sweet but tangy, clean—and let his hand trace down her curves, stopping when he reached her distended stomach. He felt lust burn in his abdomen, his plates shifting, and couldn't stop the groan that rushed out of him.

"I never meant for you to feel that way," He whispered into her neck. "I've been withdrawn but not because I don't want you. I've been stuck in my own head, in my own fears. Things I should've brought to you."

Tired of standing, and wanting to feel her body closer to his, Garrus leaned down and swept Jane off her feet and into his arms. He smiled as she squealed, tightening her arms around his neck.

"Garrus! Put me down, you're going to hurt yourself. I'm too heavy," Jane protested.

"You're perfect," He growled, holding her close as he walked back to the only piece of furniture in their room that they could both sit on—the bed. He held her tightly as he maneuvered himself onto the bed, scooting backwards until his back was against the headboard and she was sitting in his lap.

Once he was comfortable, his arms wrapped around her waist, his hands meeting on the sides of her stomach, cradling their child, he pressed his forehead against her temple and continued with his confession.

"Jane," He sighed then took a deep breath to gather his courage. "I'm afraid."

"Of what?" Jane asked, pulling back so she could look at him.

"What if I'm a horrible father?" Garrus asked. "Our son is going to be human, I'm turian. What if I don't connect with him? What if we never get that father/son connection? What if he resents that he is our child?"

"Oh, Garrus," Jane felt tears welling up in her eyes again, her heart breaking for her husband, her mate. "You're going to be a wonderful father. You already love him more than most human father's love their unborn children."

"But I'm barely going to be here," He continued. "You can't spend a lot of time on Palaven because of the radiation, and while our children are young they won't be able to even step onto the planet. When my duty as Primach calls me back to Palaven you'll be here alone."

"We'll make it work, Garrus," Jane stroked a hand over his mandible, soothing him. "Vidcalls, holomessages, puzzles, letters, I'll send you pictures. We'll make it work. Military families have been doing it for centuries. I'm sure the first human Spectre and her husband—the Turian Primarch can overcome this challenge."

"And then there's that," Garrus leaned into her hand. "What if the council revokes your Spectre status because of my appointment to Primarch?"

"What if they do?" Jane asked.

"Wouldn't that upset you?" Garrus asked, shocked that she wasn't distraught at the idea.

"Garrus, I've been expecting them to call and tell me that my status was revoked since I announced that I was pregnant. I'm okay with that. I have everything I want right here," Jane responded, pressing her hand over his against her stomach. "If they revoke my Spectre status then I'll just be Jane Vakarian, the Primarch's mate."

"You honor me more than I deserve," Garrus whispered reverently as he leaned in to press his forehead against Jane's. "What did I ever do for the Spirits to bring you into my life?"

"You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess," Jane joked, giggling as Garrus pulled her closer, shifting his head and pressing his face into her neck.

He ran his tongue up her neck until he came to her earlobe, flicking it lightly before speaking into it, "I want you, Jane."

He let out a sinister chuckle as she shivered on his lap.

"I yearn for you," He groaned into her ear as his hands started to roam over her body, pushing the towel out of his way. He cupped her breasts as he shifted underneath her, letting her feel how she affected him.

Jane gasped as she felt his shifting plates under her bottom. She ground down against them, letting out her own breathy laugh as he thrust up against her, growling as he starting nipping at her neck. He slid his tongue over each little nip, soothing the abused skin as she threw her head back, her hair falling down to his thighs, the ends tickling the sensitive flesh between his plates.

Moving quickly, he shifted their position, pushing her firmly, but gently, back against the mattress before kneeling between her thighs. He started at her lips, pressing his mouth against hers, snaking his tongue out to lap at her lips until she opened for him and let him slip inside. Their tongues dueled.

As they kissed he took notice of the way her body had changed in the past weeks. It felt like the baby was lower, her stomach meeting with his abdomen, no longer pressing against his lower ribs. He held his weight off of her with one hand pressed into the mattress while the other wandered down her body, stopping to cup her breast, massaging it gently. He pulled away from the kiss to watch as she arched into his palm. Her breasts were red, swollen, and more sensitive than he remembered.

She let out another moan, panting as he ran the pad of his thumb over her nipple, watching it shrink into a tight pearl. He swiped at it again, massaging her breast as he did and was shocked when he felt wetness against his thumb. He repeated his earlier action, massaging and rubbing over her nipple and she gasped, arching her back off the bed as she whimpered.

"So responsive," He murmured as he trailed his tongue across her collarbone and down her chest to her nipple. He flicked the tiny nub of flesh, tasting the clear liquid. It was sticky and sweet.

"Garrus!" She ran her hand over his fringe, threading her fingers in the spaces between the individual pieces of fringe until she was squeezing them between her fingers.

She knew how to set his blood on fire. As she curled her fingers within his fringe, scratching at the underneath while squeezing and clenching her fingers, he had to pull away from her breast to stop himself from biting down on the tender flesh. He was panting as he came back up to her mouth, pressing against her lips hard enough to bruise them and thrusting his tongue into her mouth aggressively while his hand headed further south, talons scraping lightly along her side until he reached her hip.

As his hand moved to her thigh, wrapping around it gently and pulling her leg up and around his waist she tugged at his fringe, pulling her mouth free from his to gasp his name.

"Garrus," She groaned as he arched his hips, his erection fully unsheathed from his plates.

"Oh, God," She moaned, throwing her head back against the mattress as he ground against her slowly, the only barrier between them was his pants and he was cursing himself for not removing them when he'd come into their room.

"Garrus, please," She whimpered, panting. "Stop."

"Stop?" His pelvis ground into her further as his brain tried to wrap around the idea that she was denying him.

"Please, you need to….oh fuck," She whimpered as he angled himself just right so the tip of his erection was pressing against her clit through his pants.

"Come for me, Jane," He leaned forward, his mouth against her ear again; his voice dropping an octave into a register he knew drove her wild. "I want to hear you scream my name."

"Garrus," She begged. "Please, stop. No, no! You need to...Oh Christ." She was throwing her head back and forth against the bed, panting and gasping but finally her words made it through the fog of lust saturating his brain.

"Why?" He growled, stopping his grinding, holding perfectly still. "What's wrong, Jane?"

"Dr. Chakwas," Jane gasped out, trying to catch her breath. "Bed rest… Cardiac rest… Not supposed to get excited…Not safe for the baby."

"What?" He pushed his arms into the mattress, shoving himself up so he was looming over her. He was panting, so close to coming simply from the friction of grinding against her. It had been far too long since he'd felt her wrapped around him, constricting, pulsing. And now she was saying they couldn't.

"Dr. Chakwas says I need to stay calm, try to keep my heart rate and blood pressure low. I was having mild contractions last night, possibly caused by the excitement of the attack," Jane was trying to explain as she continued to pant.

Contractions. The word cut through the fog surrounding his brain. If only it would also calm his raging libido and hard on. He pulled away from Jane, moving up to his knees as he looked down on her.

"Contractions?" He asked. "Why wasn't I told?"

"Karin said she sent you a copy of the results as well as some literature on what it all meant. She gave me a shot that stopped the contractions, I'm not dilated and she said that all other scans showed that the baby is fine, but agitated."

Garrus pulled up his omni-tool, opening his messages and, sure enough, there was the message from Dr. Chakwas. A quick scan showed him everything that Jane had just said. Thinking back to the night before, when they'd both been busy, he remembered his omni-tool alerting him to a message, but he didn't open it right away. Curse him! The one time he doesn't read his messages right when they came in. And by the time he finally got to bed, Jane was asleep.

This morning he'd been so worried about talking to her about what she'd said before Chakwas had examined her that he'd forgotten to ask about the examination.

"Fuck!" He snarled.

"I wish we could," Jane grumbled. "I was already so turned on it hurt before we started playing around. Now I'm ready to shoot something."

Garrus pushed off the mattress, panting as he paced away from the bed where the sweet smell of Jane's arousal was working to make him forget why he couldn't take her this instant. He headed for the bathroom, stripping out of his pants as he went. Once there he stepped into the shower, slammed the faucet to the left and waited for the water to turn icy.

There was a part of him that wanted to be angry at Jane. She should've said something. But then he realized that he was placing blame on her as an excuse for his own oversights. He should've read that message when it came in. He should've stuck around until Chakwas was done examining Jane. He should've stayed in the room with her instead of letting the doctor shove him away from his mate.

"Hey, big guy?" Jane asked from outside the shower. "Got space for one more in there? I think I need to cool down, too."

"Jane," Garrus growled through the glass door. "That is not a good idea right now."

"Open the door, Garrus," Jane demanded.

Garrus sighed as he pressed his head against the cold tiles of the shower stall. She was going to be the death of him. He wasn't sure he could handle being in such close proximity to her with them both still so aroused.

Gritting his teeth, setting his mandibles against his face, he adjusted the water until it was warmer and then opened the shower door to admit Jane.

"Just so we're clear," He gritted out. "This is a very bad idea."

"Trust me, Garrus," Jane murmured as she moved closer to him, rubbing her body against his. "The orders said I couldn't get excited. They said nothing about you."

"I don't…oooh," Garrus started to protest but the words were lost as he felt her fingers closing around his erection. He moaned and thrust into her hand, wrapping one arm around her to pull her closer while bracing the other against the wall.

"Let me take care of you," Jane murmured as she pressed against him, letting her lips and tongue slide over every part of him that she could reach. She steadily pumped her hand, squeezing tightly at the base, grinding the heel of her hand against the slit in his plates before moving her hand up to his tip, teasing over the crown of his erection with the tip of her thumb before dragging her hand back down his length.

"Oh, Spirits," Garrus groaned, shifting until he was leaning against the wall of the shower. She aligned herself so one of his legs was between hers, her slick folds sliding against the rough plates there.

She kept her pace slow but steady, applying pressure where he needed it, backing off at the more sensitive tip, and soon Garrus was panting, his hips pushing forward, rocking against her, pushing himself into her hand faster, harder.

"Spirits, Jane," He gasped, leaning forward to kiss her, slipping his tongue into her mouth to slide against hers, miming with their mouths what he wished he could do with other parts of their anatomy. He noticed that Jane was rocking her hips against his, grinding down onto this thigh and he grabbed her hips with his hands.

"No," He hissed. "No exertion, remember."

"Garrus," She snarled, biting the tip of his mandible when he pulled his mouth from hers. "Trust me, my heart rate is fine."

"Trust me," He repeated her earlier words before flexing his thigh muscles, causing the plates there to shift and rub against her, even though she wasn't moving. She whimpered, fidgeting against his hands as she tried to grind down against him.

When she realized she wasn't getting free from him, she decided to get even, pumping her hand faster, applying a bit more pressure, and pushing him closer to the edge. Each time he flexed his hips to thrust into her hand his thigh would rub against her, causing her to moan or gasp. She could tell he was close as his movements became jerky; his head falling forward to rest against her shoulder, and his breathing was choppy, sawing in and out of his lungs. She turned her head slightly, angling so she knew he'd hear her and whispered, "Come for me, Garrus."

"Jane," He gasped, pressing his face against her neck, nipping lightly as his hips pistoned against her hand. She tightened her fist, squeezing rhythmically.

"I want to hear you come, baby," She punctuated her demand with a moan of her own as he flexed his thigh, grinding against her even though she wasn't able to move.

A few more jerky thrusts later and he was coming, moaning her name into his neck as his body jerked and he gasped for air. She continued stroking him, wringing every groan and growl out of him until he was begging her to go easy on him.

She hadn't come with him, unfortunately, but it wasn't a risk they could take. Her heart rate would soar with her orgasm and even though the chance was minimal that it could cause her to go into labor, neither of them was willing to take those odds.

They washed each other under the now lukewarm water, their hands slipping and sliding over the other's body, relearning the planes and angles, dips and curves, that neither had explored in over a month. Afterward, Garrus stepped out first, handing a towel to Jane so she could dry her hair while he dried his body then he wrapped a second towel around her body and swept her up into his arms.

"Garrus, I can walk," She protested weakly as she set her head against his shoulder.

"Bed rest, remember," He reminded her. "And, anyway, I like carrying you."

"It's your back's funeral."

She covered her yawn with the back of her hand but he noticed.

"Tired?" He asked, nuzzling her hair.

"Mm-hmm," She hummed, dozing off in his arms before he made it to the bed.

With a smile he climbed into the bed, never setting her down. He pulled the comforter them, tucking the blanket around her body as she muttered in her sleep and rubbed her face against the pillow between her cheek and his shoulder.

"Sweet dreams, Jane."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, two things here....  
> 1\. I'm supposed to be doing homework....  
> 2\. This was originally a one shot, but it belongs right here in this story, so here it shall be placed.

Their home was beautiful. A small ranch, much older than most homes in the neighborhood, but well taken care of. There were wild flowers growing along the walk way up to the patio that spanned the front of the house.

She stepped onto the patio, straightening her jacket and running her hand over her hair one last time before she reached out a hand and knocked on the door. A few moments later  _he_  opened the door.

"Ms. Laurens?" Garrus Vakarian asked.

"Yes," she responded.

"Welcome." He nodded to her before stepping aside and allowing her into their home.

There house was a buzz of excitement. People were coming and going, moving from one room to the next like a tornado, and in the center of the storm was Jane. She was perched on the couch in the living room, her back propped up against one arm rest and her legs resting on a fat pillow.

"Please excuse the chaos," Garrus said from behind her. "We had a bit of a mishap over the weekend and we're trying to get everything cleaned up."

_Mishap?_  She thought to herself. This was something she'd have to ask about. She mentally added it to her interview notes.

"I could come back," She offered politely, though she really hoped that he didn't take her up on it.

"No, really, it's okay. You made this appointment weeks ago," Garrus waved her offer away. "Besides, I don't see it getting any calmer around here any time soon."

"I'm sure you're right. Babies tend to cause a stir," She agreed with a smile.

"So does getting shot at."

She wasn't an expert at turian facial expressions by any means, but the sparkle in his eye's let her know he was smiling. Was he joking about getting shot at? He and Jane were both soldiers, perhaps that was what it was about. Maybe he was comparing the upcoming arrival of their child to preparing for a fight.

"You're joking, right?" She asked.

"Not so much," He continued on into the house, moving into the living room and leaving her staring, dumbfounded, at his retreating back.

"Ms. Laurens?"

Hearing her name being called brought her back to reality. She looked around, trying to find who'd called her.

"Over here," The voice called again. "The invalid on the couch!"

She saw Jane smiling from her spot in the center of the chaos. Garrus had joined Jane, moving the pillow and replacing it with his lap. As she watched them, he ran a finger up the bottom of her foot, causing her to jump then lean forward to swat him. It seemed so domestic, something any couple would do. Is this the same couple that had saved the galaxy? Was that the same woman who'd ended the reapers? It was hard to believe that barely a year ago they'd been standing on a beach saying their vows. She'd been there, of course, but she'd been an assistant at the time. This was her first major story, her first chance at the 'big time.' She was so nervous her hands were shaking.

Taking a deep breath she worked her way across the room, dodging as someone came through carrying a cot and almost knocked into her.

"Vega!" Jane barked. "Be careful!"

The man carrying the cot turned, again barely missing her, and apologized before he went on his way.

"I'm really sorry about him," Jane leaned forward and stuck out her hand as she came closer.

"I'm Jane," Jane introduced herself and shook her hand. "And you've met my husband. You look familiar. Where do I know you from?"

She was just about to answer when Jane cut in. "Were you at the wedding?"

"Yes, ma'am," She smiled. She couldn't believe that Jane had remembered. She was a nobody, just a little assistant running around behind her supervisor, carrying his water and a note pad at the time.

"I thought so. So, what's your name?"

"Sara Laurens," She answered.

"Sara," Jane said. "Pretty name. Why don't you have a seat."

Sara looked around the room. There was the couch against the wall, which was occupied by Jane and Garrus, and that seemed to be the only piece of furniture. She looked into the kitchen and saw the stools tucked under the island counter top, but before she could take a step to retrieve one Jane spoke up again.

"Vega!" She barked and the man who'd been carrying the cot earlier came running up from the basement.

"Damn it, Jane," He huffed, out of breath. "Would you stop barking at me."

"Of course, I'd love to. Here, let me just get off this couch and walk over to the door way and calmly call you," Jane's tone was dripping with sarcasm. She started to swing her legs off her husband's lap, but he quickly grabbed them, bringing them back.

"Stay," Garrus growled, barely audible over the noise of carpenters in the kitchen and whatever was going on in the basement.

"You know the more you yell the more you'll raise your blood pressure and heart rate, and that's what got you into this position," Vega said. "If you want the doctor to revoke your bed rest orders, you should at least try not to stress the baby out more."

"Low blow," Jane responded. "Where'd you put the armchair? Sara needs some place to sit."

"I'll go get it." He walked out of the room, heading into the hallway that Sara assumed led to the bedrooms.

He returned moments later carrying a large chair. With a grunt he set it down across from the couch.

"Okay, I'm off to the basement to make sure everyone gets settled. Holler if you need me, you know how to do that, right?" He asked sarcastically.

"I think we'll manage," Jane sniped back while motioning for Sara to take a seat, which she did.

She pulled out a small omni-tool from her briefcase as well as a note pad before setting the case next to the chair.

"Do you mind if I record the interview?" She asked.

"Do you mind if we do?" Garrus asked in response.

"Not at all." Sara knew they'd been having trouble with reporters and journalists slandering them and tearing down their relationship since they'd announced their engagement. The announcement that they were expecting their first child had only ramped up the smear campaign that some news programs were heading.

"I understand you've had some trouble with reporters and journalists in the past," She explained. "And I want this to go as smoothly for you as possible. I promise you will receive a copy of the final piece before it is put to print, and it will only be printed if it has your consent."

She'd received a call from Admiral Hackett a few days prior explaining that he was tired of the lies and innuendos flying around the press about the 'two best soldier's the galaxy has ever known'-to use his words exactly, and that if she thought that she would get to add her name to that list she was sorely mistaken. What the Admiral didn't know, of course, was that she has always been a strong supporter of their relationship. She was younger than them, both having been born during, or soon their after, the First Contact War, or Relay 314 Incident-it's title depended on who you were talking to-while she had only learned about the War in her history classes in school. She knew about the animosity between their races, but she didn't understand it. It was old news, buried under years and years of headlines, and as far as she was concerned that was where it could stay.

"That's nice to hear," Jane smiled. "But you'll forgive me if I don't believe it. Your actions will speak for you, Sara."

"Understood, Commander."

"Nope," Jane shook her head. "I'm retired now, I'm not Commander Shepard anymore. Just call me Jane, or Mrs. Vakarian-though that makes me feel old. Lets just stick with Jane."

"Wow, that's a strong opinion to something so simple, Jane. Is there any reason why you're shucking your title within the Alliance military?" Sara asked after setting her omni-tool to record.

"Nothing specific," Jane answered. "I'm proud of what I did. I'm unbelievably proud of the people I served with, of what we accomplished..."

"Of destroying the reapers?" Sara cut in.

"Yes, of that. Though I didn't do that alone. That was something the whole galaxy did. We joined together to take down a common enemy. I may have helped get everyone in the same place at the same time, but I am, by no means, the sole destroyer of the reapers."

Jane paused for a moment to take a breath and reached toward her husband, wrapping her hand around his and squeezing before she went on.

"I know that's what I'll be remembered for, I know that the books will write me as some reaper killing hero, but that's not who I am. I guess that's why I want people, now, to stop using my rank. I'm just a person, no different than you are. What I did was important, but what I'm doing now, to me, is just as important if not more so. I'm starting a family, I'm rebuilding, just like the whole galaxy."

"I would say," Sara continued. "It definitely sounds like you're rebuilding. Is this just normal remodeling? Getting ready for the baby? Nesting as some would call it?"

Sara gestured around to the construction crew as well as the Alliance soldiers who were walking in and out of the house.

"No, we are not remodeling in that regard, by choice, this is in response to a small mishap over the weekend," Jane answered.

"Can you talk about it?"

"I don't see why not," Garrus answered this time. "We were attacked. Apparently it's not just the news and gossip magazines who don't appreciate our relationship or that we're starting a family. Sadly, a turian supremacy group-yes, we have them too-decided to take matters into their own hands."

"They attacked your home?" Sara couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yes," Garrus answered while his wife nodded away next to him.

"What did you do?"

"Defended ourselves," Jane explained.

"You defended yourself," Garrus cut in, turning his gaze to his wife. "And it's why you're stuck on bed rest. Not exactly your brightest idea, Jane."

"And what should I have done?" She shot back. "Curl up in a ball and hope you and Vega made it back here before one of them got in the house and shot me?"

"There's a big difference between 'cowering in a corner' and 'hand to hand combat with an armed terrorist'," Garrus pointed out.

"I'm not living that down any time soon, am I?" Jane looked honestly embarrassed as her husband glared at her.

"When I can close my eyes without reliving that moment, that's when we can drop it," Garrus patted her shins as he spoke.

Sara bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning as she watched the two bicker. It was obvious that Garrus wasn't happy with what had happened, but that was no different than any other relationship. They were bickering about what he thought was a poor choice she'd made, and that was completely normal. What made it abnormal was that the poor choice happened to be made in a combat situation, something most couples didn't find themselves in.

"I apologized," Jane went on.

"Yes, you did," Garrus sighed. "Doesn't make the nightmares go away, though."

"You? Nightmares? I thought that was just a waste of perfectly good sleep," Jane's tone was teasing.

"Prior to you deciding we should live a 'normal' life, that was the case. But then we decided to get married and have a child and I haven't had a peaceful nights sleep since."

Sara sat back in the chair and watched the two of them as they interacted. She'd come with a neatly drawn out plan of action, she had questions she wanted to ask them, questions her readers had sent in, but as she watched Jane and Garrus Vakarian tease each other about sleep patterns and bottle nipples-how'd they end up on that topic?-she found it hard to interrupt.

* * *

It was hours later, all of her questions were answered, and yet she was still there. At some point they'd moved from the living room to the kitchen and she and Jane were sitting on the stools at the island while Garrus was preparing dinner.

"He's an unbelievable cook," Jane said. "You wouldn't expect it, especially with the levo/dextro thing, but it's true."

"Jane, stop," Garrus said from his spot at the stove. He was stirring a pot of sauce and didn't even look up at them. "You'll make me blush."

"Really? Wait, complementing your cooking? That's all I have to do?" Jane gasped.

"You have no idea how long I've been trying to get this man to blush," Jane said to Sara. "I mean, have you ever seen a turian blush? I haven't. All my years in space, all my time among aliens, I've never seen a turian blush. I've seen asari blush-they're so much fun to tease-even seen a krogan blush, but a turian? Nope. Not even a hint of a blush. Not even a smidge of embarrassment. They're un-embarrassable."

"That's not a word, Jane," Garrus chuckled. "And that's not true. You've embarrassed me. Remember when you made me dance with you?"

"No blush," She said.

"Sorry," He apologized, but was smiling.

"Maybe it has to do with their lack of facial expressions," Sara said, thinking out loud.

"Huh?" Jane turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, they use sub harmonics to express feelings because they have so few facial expressions, maybe the blushing thing is the same. Maybe you've made him 'blush' tons of times, but because humans can't hear the sub harmonics, you never knew."

"Garrus," Jane turned back to him, her tone accusatory. "Is this true?"

"I plead the fifth," He carried a pot of boiling noodles to the sink, drained the water off them, and returned the pot to the stove top.

"I really need one of those implants like Vega has," Jane grumbled. "You're having emotions that I don't know about. There is embarrassment being had right under my ears!"

"Over, actually," Garrus corrected her. He was plating up dinner now. "Most emotions, like embarrassment, shame, and unease are vocalized in a range higher than human ears can hear."

"Bah!" Jane threw her hands up. "I can't believe I never thought of the sub harmonic thing."

Garrus came over, chuckling quietly as he placed two plates of fettuccine alfredo in front of them. As he was placing Jane's plate, he leaned down, nuzzling his face against her hair. Jane reached up, wrapping her fingers around his cowl and kept him in place as she tipped her head back and pressed her forehead to his. Just before she released his cowl she sat up and kissed him then let him retrieve his own dinner.

They sat like that for hours, even after the food was eaten, just chatting. Sara felt more like a friend over for a visit than the journalist she was. At the end of the evening, she gathered up her briefcase, her omni-tool, and her notepad, said her good byes and promised to stop by again before slipping out the front door and walking to her sky-car.

* * *

A month later, Garrus and Jane were cuddled on the couch flipping through a magazine on his datapad when they came to an article written by Ms. Sara Laurens.

They both held their breath as they read through the article. She answered every question that her fans had written in with about their relationship and the upcoming arrival of their son. At the end of the article, she wrote a note to her readers, it was simple, yet profound.

_"Garrus and Jane Vakarian can be called many things. Turian, human, sniper, biotic, Commander, C-sec officer turned vigilante, reaper killers, saviors of the galaxy, but if you strip every one of those titles away all you're left with is one. The most important one._

_Partners._

_One day, I will have children, and I will, like every other parent, tell them the story of how I met their father-or if I'm so lucky as to bond with an asari, their mother-but I will never have such a fantastical tale of love conquering all as Jane and Garrus Vakarian. And I hope that when my daughter picks someone to look up to as a role model, that she picks Jane. I know when she asks me to tell her a story about a knight saving the princess, I will tell their tale, though the knight will carry a sniper rifle, be wearing blue armor, and an ever present blue visor, and the princess will be able to save herself._

_To all those who wonder if their relationship is true, the answer is yes. To all those who claim that theirs is a marriage made for the press, I challenge you to spend a day in their home. There is nothing made up about the love they feel for one another. There is nothing fake about the way they look at each other when they think the other isn't looking._

_To the Vakarian's, who so graciously allowed me into their home, I say "Thank you."_

~End~


	10. Chapter 10

"I don't understand this shirt," Jane growled, her arms were behind her back, holding the front of her top closed. "Why would I possibly want to draw attention to my stomach?"

Jane stood in the center of her living room, facing the couch where Liara, Kasumi, and Samara currently lounged. She could hear James and Zaeed in the basement. They were in the middle of a heated debate regarding weaponry for the days 'mission.' Mostly, James was trying to explain why Zaeed couldn't take Jessie along.

Zaeed had arrived on Saturday while Jane and Garrus were napping. Liara had contacted him, along with most of the previous  _Normandy_  crew after the attack on their home and over the past few days guests had been slowly trickling in.

Kasumi and Samara had been the next to arrive, Kasumi's arms laden with 'gifts' for Jane. Cortez, who was currently out running errands with Jack, had shown up hours after Kasumi and Jack the following morning. Their home was quickly becoming over crowded. To accommodate everyone, Garrus, Zaeed, and James had brought in bunks and turned most of the basement—the portion not used as an armory—into barracks.

"Because pregnancy is beautiful and pregnant women are gorgeous, and this time in your life needs to be celebrated," Kasumi explained, bringing Jane back to the conversation between the women, as she hopped off the couch and came up to Jane. "Now turn around and I'll fix your shirt."

"I don't feel beautiful," Jane grumbled as she turned around and let Kasumi take over the ties. "I feel fat, and puffy, and tired. I'm not growing a baby; I'm growing an energy vampire."

"From what I understand of human pregnancy, which is not so dissimilar from Asari pregnancy," Samara spoke up in her usually calm tone. "This is the time when you will feel the most exhausted. Do not worry, this is completely normal. And while you may not feel it, you are indeed beautiful, Jane."

"All done," Kasumi chirped as she finished tying the strips of fabric in a bow.

"Where's Garrus?" James asked as he walked into the living room. He was wearing his usual Alliance gear, combat pants and a white t-shirt with the Alliance logo across the front, but had added shoulder holsters for his pistols which he was trying to cover with the leather jacket he was pulling on.

"Yo, Scars," He called, still not looking at Jane standing in the center of the room as he fiddled with the holsters. Liara came up to him, batting his hands away and taking over tightening the straps. "Get your ass in gear! We gotta get this show on the road."

"I'm coming," Garrus called back, exiting their bedroom as he clipped his omni-tool to his wrist. "I couldn't find my…Woah!"

Garrus' mandibles fell open, his jaw going slack as he took Jane in. He stopped short in the doorway, staring at her as though he'd never seen her before.

"Kasumi brought some maternity clothes," Jane explained sheepishly. "I thought I should actually wear them since we're going out."

"You look stunning," Garrus said as he finally moved from his spot in the door way, coming towards her.

"Really?" Jane asked, holding her arms out to the side. She turned toward the decorative mirror hanging on the wall and took herself in. "You think so?"

The shirt was cobalt blue, almost the same color as Garrus' face paint, and it made her red hair and pale complexion stand out even more than usual. It was a tank top configuration with a deep V cut neck line. The fabric over her chest gathered and looked like it twisted in the center of her breasts and the excess was gathered at her back, which had been tied by Kasumi. It was form fitted across her breasts but gave way to more flowing fabric over her stomach. The shirt was long, hitting her at mid thigh, even with having to cover her stomach. Kasumi had paired it with chocolate colored leggings and finally a pair of simple ballet flats.

"I think I need to go find a big stick," Garrus said as he came up behind Jane. She turned her head, looking up at his reflection in the mirror, his head above hers.

"What?"

"To beat everyone off of you with," He explained.

"That's what we're here for," James reminded him. "You two just go about your business, let Zaeed and me deal with the paparazzi and adoring fans."

"And me," Kasumi spoke up. "I'll be there too, but you won't see me."

"This is a lot of freaking fanfare for a damn check up," Jane grumbled.

"But necessary," Liara reminded them. "You were attacked, in your own home, remember?"

"I know, Liara," Jane sighed. "I was there."

"Moving on," James cut in, bringing everyone back to the present. "Liara and Samara will stay here to supervise the crew setting up the perimeter security. You two," James pointed at Garrus and Jane. "Have the check up at ten-hundred then a meeting at twelve hundred thirty at Alliance head quarters."

"It's only been six months," Garrus reminded James. "Don't talk to us like we don't know the routine."

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page."

"You're just enjoying being in charge for once," Jane corrected. "Don't get too used to it, while we're at Alliance HQ I am going to talk to Admiral Hackett. Operation Keep-The-Pregnant-Woman-Safe will be headed by me."

"Yeeeah, no it won't," James shook his head. "Sorry, Lola, you're going to have to accept a backseat role here. Officially, I'm leading this."

"Officially," She repeated as she turned from the mirror and headed for the front door. "Remember that."

"Why do I feel like I didn't win that round?" James asked the room.

"Because you didn't," Liara answered, giving his chest a pat as she finished tightening the last strap. She stood on tip toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek but James caught her around the waist, pulling her back to press his lips to hers for a real kiss. Pulling away she tapped a finger against his chest, right above his heart. "Be safe out there, today."

"Goddamn teenagers," Zaeed grumbled as he followed Jane and Garrus out of the room. "C'mon lover boy, we've got a job to do."

Garrus and Jane were already outside as James and Zaeed stepped out the front door. As they were approaching the car, Jane broke away from Garrus, hurrying back toward the house.

"Sorry, sorry," She muttered as she half waddled half ran up the front walk. "I'll be back in just a minute."

"What the…?" Zaeed asked, gesturing toward Jane.

"I have to pee," Jane hollered over her shoulder as she rushed back into the house.

Garrus was doubled over, one hand on the car to hold himself up as he watched Zaeed and James stare after Jane.

"This is why we're never on time for anything," He chuckled, straightening up and walking over to the men standing slack jawed on his front porch. You'd swear they'd never seen a pregnant woman run.

"You would think she'd be more responsible," James grumbled. "She should've done this before we went to leave."

"The baby shifted and kicked her bladder," Garrus explained. "Just be glad we're past the losing her lunch in the bushes phase."

"Bet it didn't take as long," Zaeed grumbled as he leaned against the railing.

"No, it didn't, but she didn't always make it out of the car before it hit," Garrus countered, chuckling softly.

"She better not puke in my car," James warned.

"Upholstery is washable," Garrus reminded James.

"My seats are leather," James shot back.

"Also launder able," Zaeed chuckled.

"Are you enjoying making fun of me?" Jane spoke up from behind the men as she and Kasumi walked out of the house. She had her commander voice on and all three males shot up from their slouched positions, guilt, fear, and embarrassment at being caught evident on Garrus and James' faces but Zaeed just laughed.

"Of course," Zaeed answered. "Someone has to tease the great Commander Shepard."

"That someone is not you, Massani," Jane said, her commander voice still in place, her face completely closed off and void of emotion—something Garrus hadn't seen since she'd woken up after killing the Reapers.

She stepped past the men and walked toward the car. "Are we leaving or are you guys going to keep standing there staring at my fat ass?"

"You all are such pigs," Kasumi hissed as she passed them, glaring specifically at Garrus.

"What?" James protested but shut up when Garrus cuffed him lightly on the back of the skull.

"Just move," Garrus ordered before taking off after his wife.

"I never meant for them to tease you," Garrus tried to explain as he caught up to Jane. "They just sort of ran with something I said."

Jane looked up at him, her eyes brimmed with tears and Garrus would've kicked his own ass if his knees bent in a way that would allow it.

"Oh, Jane," He wrapped his arms around her stiff body. "I'm so sorry. Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry," Jane sniffled before burying her face against Garrus' chest. "I don't know why I'm so emotional. I know you guys meant no harm."

"The books say crying is completely normal." Garrus pulled Jane closer and stroked his hands down her back.

"It still sucks," Her voice was small and muffled against his light armor. "And I'm tired of it."

"You're almost done," Garrus would've said 'we' but figured this was not the time to include himself in her suffering. She might decide to make him suffer more to make up for his lack of being pregnant. Jane had become irrational and irritable the closer to the baby's due date they got.

"I know," She huffed. "We're almost there. I've been horrid these past few days. I wish I could say I'll get better, but I really don't think I will. You're a saint for not running away from me when I'm like this."

"You'd shoot me if I tried," Garrus said with a chuckle. He was only partially joking.

"Only because I can't use my biotics," Jane agreed, giggling with him.

She sobered up, pulling away from his chest to look up at his face. "I love you, even when I'm acting like a witch. I'd be worse if you weren't here."

"I know," Garrus agreed, his mandibles flaring into a smile. "I love you too, Jane. And you're not as bad as you think. Just remember, I fought a war with you, I knew what I was in for when I married you." He pulled her in tight for a final hug before stepping back and turning them toward the vehicle. "Now, let's get going before we're late for the appointment with Chakwas."

* * *

The drive to the clinic in London was quiet. James and Zaeed were in the front seat while Jane sat in the back sandwiched between Garrus on her left and Kasumi on her right. Garrus kept his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his side, as they circled the clinic looking for any press that may be waiting to ambush them.

Sure enough, the sidewalk and grassy area outside of the clinic was covered with reporters. They were milling about like geese, talking to each other, shouting over one another, and all of them were watching for the car Jane and Garrus were in.

"So," James spoke up from the driver's seat. "How do you want to play this?"

"I thought you were in charge," Jane teased from the back seat.

"You're the one who'll have to deal with them," James reminded her. "We can try to sneak in the back way..." James started to say as they finished the circle around the block and came up on the back door to the clinic. There were just as many reporters waiting there as there were at the front door. "Or not."

"Front or back door doesn't matter, those reporters are going to stampede the moment these two set foot out of the goddamn car," Zaeed spoke up, jerking his thumb toward the back seat.

"How did they know we would be here today," Garrus asked the one question that had been on everyone's mind. They'd gone to great lengths to keep the appointment time a secret. Jane had made the appointment under her mother's maiden name, a name that should not have been easily connected to her, and even then she'd made the appointment specifically with Chakwas who assured her she would enter it into the system personally. Who'd leaked the information?

"No one was supposed to know."

"But they do," Kasumi spoke up for the first time since leaving the house. "We can't get rid of them, at least not easily, so we have to find a way to make this work."

"I hate reporters," Jane grumbled before taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Okay, Vega, just park in that parking lot. We're going to do this as though those reporters aren't there. Kasumi, I want you to cloak before you get out of the car, sneak into the crowd and do what you do best."

"Got it," Kasumi said. She pulled up her omni-tool, readying it to cloak before she departed. "I'll keep my ear to the ground and let you guys know if I see anything suspicious."

"Thanks, this is just the place for another attack. There'd be so much confusion if someone fired a shot in that crowd that we'd never find the shooter." Jane was holding Garrus' hand, squeezing tightly for strength. She was really tired of playing Commander Shepard. Her plan when she'd retired was to find a quiet space to raise their kids away from all the spot light. It would seem that the universe didn't want that for her, though.

"James and Zaeed, keep those vultures back," Garrus spoke up, stroking the back of Jane's hand with his thumb. "I'll get Jane into the clinic. I am sick of this. Every time we leave our property someone is there trying to snap our picture or get an interview."

"The price of fame," Jane muttered as James found a parking spot and set the car down.

Just as the doors opened Kasumi cloaked. Once Zaeed had exited, the thief hopped out of the car, making her way quietly across the parking lot and into the mass of reporters standing on the grass around the clinic.

"Shall we?" Garrus asked.

"Once more into the bowels of hell," She chuckled as she gestured for the door. Garrus stepped out first, reaching his hand into the car to help Jane out.

"Commander Shepard!" Jane heard a voice from her past barking as she stepped from the car. Garrus automatically wrapped his arms around her, keeping his body between her's and the many reporters rushing toward them.

"Commander Shepard!" The voice rang out again. Jane peeked around Garrus' body and saw Kalisah Bint Sinan Al Julani rushing toward them. James stepped into the reporter's path, his arms stretched out in an attempt to hold the reporter back.

"Step back!" He barked. "Give them some room."

"Excuse me," Al Julani snarled as she attempted to shove James aside. "Commander Shepard! The people want to know…"

"Bitch," Jane hissed under her breath. She stepped back from Garrus but kept his hand in hers as she faced the crowd.

"It's okay, James," Jane said as she stepped up behind the younger man.

"What, pray tell, do the people want to know, Ms. Al Julani?" Jane asked her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Commander Shepard," Al Julani started but Jane held her hand up, stopping the woman.

"Try "Mrs. Vakarian," Jane corrected as she felt Garrus' arm wrap around her waist. "I have been married for over a year now."

Jane watched as Al Julani gritted her teeth, obviously hating being corrected. Her jaw ticked and her lip turned up slightly in a sneer before she tried again.

"Mrs. Vakarian, then," Al Julani spat out. "Is it true that you've been on bed rest for the last six days?"

"Yes." Jane vowed to keep her answers short, not willing to give the woman anything she could use to smear them.

"And you were placed under such restrictions because of injuries sustained during a fight with a  _Turian_ ," The reporter sneered the last word, her camera zooming in toward Garrus as she said it.

"What are you implying, Ms. Al Julani?" Jane kept her voice calm even though she wanted to punch the woman for implying that Garrus had hurt her. She felt him stiffen next to her, the arm around her waist going hard as steel while he held himself upright.

"I am not implying anything, Commander," Al Julani answered sweetly, sneaking Jane's previous title in again. "The people would like to know the whole story. We're worried about you."

"The whole story?" Jane asked before speaking up, her voice rising in volume so that everyone in the crowd could hear her. "Will the whole story be what the people see when you're done with your hack job or will they only see what you want them to see?"

"I am here to report the truth," Al Julani bristled. "I am offended that you would accuse me of anything less."

"You weren't reporting the truth on Friday," A voice in the back of the crowd shouted. It sounded so familiar. Damn baby-brain, where had Jane heard that voice? She held her hand up when she saw Al Julani getting ready to defend herself, silencing the questionable reporter.

"Since everyone is here," Jane continued to speak loud enough to be heard. "I'll tell the story for everyone. I'm sure someone in this crowd will be willing to report the truth."

Jane scanned the crowd and couldn't help the smile that tugged on her lips when she saw Sara Laurens, the journalist who'd visited their home earlier that week. That was the voice she recognized. She nudged Garrus and nodded in Sara's direction with her head. She felt his arm relax slightly where it was pressed against her lower back. The low rumble of a chuckle that worked its way up his chest helped her to relax as well.

"Can everyone see and hear me?" Jane asked. "If not, move forward."

Reporters from the back of the crowd began to move forward, nudging their way through onlookers until they were all in a position to be able to hear Jane.

"Okay," Jane started once everyone was settled. "Ms. Al Julani's question was in regards to my current restrictions. It is true that I am on bed rest, that I am to keep my heart rate and blood pressure down so as not to agitate the baby—something infinitely more difficult to do when I am ambushed by reporters every time I step outside of my home," Jane glared at Al Julani as she said the last bit.

"It is also true that these restrictions were placed on me after I engaged in hand to hand combat with  _a_  turian. I'd like to make it very clear, though, that the turian in question was not Garrus Vakarian." Jane stopped to take a breath, looking over the faces of those in the crowd. Her eyes met Sara's and the young reporter smiled, giving her a thumbs-up sign before pointing toward one of the camera drones that was focused on them. The drone had her broadcast company's logo on its side.

"On Friday evening, around eighteen hundred hours, that's six o'clock for those of you who don't understand a 24-hour clock, about half an hour after watching Ms. Al Julani's highly questionable report on my current marital situation, our home was attacked by about a dozen armed, unknown, turians. They had a sniper who attempted to shoot me while I was in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner," Jane knew she didn't have to add that they'd watched Al Julani's report, but couldn't stop herself from taking the jab at the woman.

"My husband, Lieutenant Commander Vega, and I," Jane gestured to James who was standing on her right. "Engaged the attackers in an attempt to defend ourselves. During this fight, I ran out of ammunition, and was forced to defend myself physically. The strain on my body from both the adrenaline and the exertion of defending myself caused my heart rate to sky rocket and put my unborn child in danger."

Jane cupped her hand over her stomach, rubbing against the taut skin as she felt the baby roll and kick.

"I experienced mild, pre-term labor that was able to be stopped and my doctor placed me on bed rest to ensure that I stayed calm and did not agitate our child further," Jane finished the story. She had stayed to simple details. She kept her sentences short and hoped that it would be too difficult to cut the story up and make it seem like this attack was caused by Garrus.

"Today's visit, which I am now," Jane stopped, looking down at her omni-tool for the time. "Fifteen minutes late for, is to assess the situation and monitor the baby. So, if you would excuse me, I have a doctor with ice cold ultrasound jelly waiting for me."

Her last comment was met with chuckles as James and Zaeed walked forward into the crowd, moving reporters and onlookers out of the way so she and Garrus had a clear path to the clinic's entrance.

* * *

"Not bad," Chakwas said. She met them at the entrance to the clinic and guided them back toward an examination room. "You handled that well, Jane."

"Thanks," Jane sighed as she followed the doctor. "I hope calling that woman out will mean she isn't able to twist this into somehow being Garrus' fault. I don't care if she goes after me, but I'm tired of her going after him."

"Don't worry about me, Jane," Garrus spoke up from her side, but she ignored him. She could take anything that bitch threw at her, but she refused to have him slandered. It wasn't an option.

"There were at least 20 cameras out there," James pointed out. "So even if she tries, someone else is going to air the real story. She won't be able to keep this up for long. We just have to railroad her every time she tries to corner you or Garrus."

"Easier said than done," Jane reminded James as they came to a stop in front of an exam room.

"This from the woman who ran a suicide mission into the center of the goddamn galaxy," Zaeed chuckled. "Didn't you punch that bitch once before?"

"Obviously not hard enough," Jane chuckled. "Are you two going to loiter?" She asked, changing the topic.

"We'll wait out here." James took a spot on one side of the doorway, leaning against the wall, and Zaeed chose the other side of the door.

"You know the routine," Chakwas said as they entered the room and she went over to a piece of equipment, pulling it closer to the bed.

Paper crinkled as Jane adjusted on the exam table. She pulled her shirt up and pushed the waistband of her pants low so her stomach was completely open for the doctor. Chakwas finished setting up the ultrasound machine and pulled out a bottle of blue gel and the ultrasound paddle.

"This is going to be cold. I did have it warmed up, but you were late," Chakwas said just before squirting the cool gel onto Jane's stomach. Jane jumped, a quiet squeak sneaking out as the gel hit her skin.

"Sure you did," She grumbled. "Feels more like you put it in the freezer."

The doctor chuckled but didn't say anything to Jane's protests, instead focusing on the screen of the machine as she moved the wand around, pressing against Jane's stomach as she searched for the baby.

"There's his heart," Chakwas said, tapping her finger against the screen where they could see the baby's heart fluttering. "Give me just a moment and you'll be able to hear him as well." The doctor pressed a few keys on the keyboard and the room was filled with the low, quick pulsing of their child's heart beat.

"Should it be beating that quickly?" Garrus asked. He was sitting next to Jane, holding her hand.

"Yes," Chakwas answered with a smile. "Everything is looking perfect."

"Best news we've gotten all week," Jane looked to Garrus as she said it. He was staring at the screen, his mandibles flared in a small smile as he took in their son. "Can we get a few pictures?"

"Sure, just give me a moment."

The doctor went to work, moving the ultrasound wand around until she had a good picture of their son's profile, he was sucking his thumb. She pressed a few keys on the keyboard, quickly, and then the image froze for a second. She moved the wand again, clicking away on the keys, and the screen zoomed out to a full body shot of their child. The final picture she caught was of his feet, and yet again, the moment the wand was over his feet, he kicked, giving them a perfect picture.

"I'll send these to both of your extra-net accounts," Chakwas said. She cleaned the wand off and put it back where it belonged before taking a wet towel and wiping Jane's stomach off.

While Jane rearranged her clothing, Chakwas sent the pictures off to their extranet accounts, and simultaneously both their omni-tools let out a light pinging noise. Jane tapped to accept the message and was staring at the pictures when Garrus' omni-tool notified him that he had an incoming call.

"I can't ignore this," Garrus grumbled. "Callus will have an aneurism if I put him off any longer."

"Go on, we can wait," Jane smiled, patting his arm. Garrus stood up and moved to a far corner of the room, refusing to leave the room while Jane was in with the doctor.

"Hello, Callus," Garrus greeted his assistant.

"Good morning, Primarch," Callus answered. "I was wondering if you'd spoken with Jane about the ceremony. Have the two of you decided when you will be able to come and accept your title officially?"

"We've talked about it," Garrus answered gruffly. Apparently, Callus wasn't in the mood for small talk. He'd cut straight to the point. "But I refuse to leave her before our child is born."

"That's a problem, Garrus," Callus used his name instead of title. "If you don't formally accept the title within three weeks the laws state that it will be forfeited and go on to the next family. You will shame your clan."

"I know that, Callus," Garrus snarled. "But I won't leave her side. Isn't there another option?"

"No," Callus said after a moment of deliberation. "None that I can think of."

"Think harder, then," Garrus growled. "I will not leave my mate when she is so close to giving birth."

"Garrus," Callus' subharmonics were tinged with frustration and a sound most often used on a petulant child. "These are your people. They're waiting for you to accept this title. You have to make a decision."

"I have, Callus," Garrus' own subharmonics rose in volume, rumbling with anger. "My top priority is and will always be my mate. Everything, and I do mean every-damn-thing in this galaxy, comes second. If our people can't understand that then maybe I don't want to be their Primarch."

"You would shame your clan for your mate?" Callus' subharmonics shifted quickly, disbelief quivering in them. "Then what would you have left to give her?"

"The only thing I've ever had to give her," Garrus answered honestly. "Me. My loyalty to our bond, my never ending love and support, and if my clan was to disown me for that choice, I would not miss them for a moment."

It wasn't exactly true. He would miss his father, he would miss Solana, but if they couldn't understand the difficult situation he was in then it would be better if they never again contacted him. As for the rest of his clan, cousins and uncles and aunts would be missed, but none would ever mean more to him than Jane.


	11. Chapter 11

Garrus was frustrated after the call with Callus. That blasted  _turian_  just couldn't see reason. Garrus was more than willing to take on the role of Primarch, hell, to be honest a small part of him was giddy over the prospect, but he was not willing to travel at this point in Jane's pregnancy.

"I'm releasing you from strict bed rest, but that doesn't mean you're completely free to do as you please," Dr. Chakwas was explaining when Garrus tuned back into the conversation.

"But I can walk around my own home? Stay standing for longer than a minute or two?" Jane's tone was hopeful and Garrus had to stifle the chuckle growing in his chest.

She hated bed rest. Keeping her stationary had been a nightmare for the last week, but if being at her beck and call, constantly watching her and wracking his brain to entertain her was what he had to do to keep her and the baby healthy, he would do it for the next eight weeks without complaint.

"Yes, you can walk around. You can enjoy all your usual activities—all of them— as long as you're careful. If anything seems painful, uncomfortable, or for any reason doesn't feel right, stop," Chakwas warned. "And of course, if the discomfort continues or you're worried, give me a call and we'll either get you in here at the clinic or I'll come out to you to check on you and the baby."

"Thanks, Karin," Jane smiled from ear to ear as she hopped down from the table and hugged the doctor. "You have no idea how frustrating it was feeling completely healthy but being treated like an invalid."

"Not to mention how hard it is to keep you entertained," Garrus cut in. He wasn't going to let Jane sit there acting like she was the only one put out by her bed rest. "You're an absolutely horrible patient."

"You knew that before you married me," Jane shot back as she turned to face him, her smile still in place and good mood not faltering under his jibes.

"Yeah, it takes a special kind of thick headed to know you can't win and walk into the fight ring anyway," Garrus chuckled.

"One more thing," the doctor spoke up as she crossed the room and opened a small refrigerator that was tucked in the corner. She pulled out a large bottle of water and handed it to Jane. "You need to drink a lot more of this. You're dehydrated and that can cause pre-term labor. You want that little guy fully cooked don't you? Then you need to take care of yourself so your body doesn't try to boot him out early."

"Yes, ma'am," Jane accepted the bottle of water before giving the doctor a salute.

"I mean it, Jane." Chakwas said with the don't- mess-with-me look on her face that she'd used with everyone on the Normandy at one point or another when they were injured.

"I know you do," Jane said, becoming serious. "While I may not like it, even grumble about your orders and joke about breaking them, that's all it is—joking. I would never do anything to intentionally put the baby's health in jeopardy."

"That's good to hear," the doctor said with a sigh of relief before heading for the door. The doctor stepped out of the room and as they were packing up to leave she came back in.

"I almost forgot," Chakwas was clicking away on a datapad as she returned to the room. "Have you guys started Lamaze yet?"

"La-what?" Jane asked.

"Birthing classes," Garrus explained.

"How do you know that and I don't?"

"I read about it in one of the books you bought," he explained. "Apparently you skipped that chapter."

"Must have," Jane shrugged. "You didn't share your knowledge before now, though, why?"

"It was months ago, we had time. You were busy picking out paint colors for the baby's nursery and trying to decide between a bassinet and a co-sleeper for our room," he explained and Jane blushed because she knew exactly what he was talking about. He'd teased her mercilessly for that month that she'd agonized over where the baby would sleep once he got here.

"Well, you're running out of time," the doctor cut in as she pushed a data pad into Jane's hands.

"What's this?" Jane questioned as she put the data pad into her bag.

"Just some information for the two of you to look into," the doctor answered. "Information about breast feeding versus bottle feeding, daycare or in home nanny, private or public schooling; all the essential though rarely thought about debates that new parents don't think about until it's too late."

"Okay, so I guess we should take a look at this stuff soon," Jane shrugged.

"I want you back in two weeks. Bring any questions you have about any of that information," the doctor said as they all stepped from the room together.

They had an appointment with Hackett at Alliance HQ that none of them wanted to be late for, so after another hug Jane broke away from the doctor and headed toward the front desk to schedule their next appointment.

"How'd it go?" James asked, catching up with them as they walked toward the clinic's exit.

"I've been released from bed rest," Jane beamed.

"About bloody fucking time," Zaeed muttered, earning him a glare from Jane.

"Don't glare at me, Shepard," Zaeed growled in response to her withering stare. "You're a nasty bitch when you're bed ridden."

"It compliments your sunny disposition," Jane replied sarcastically then took off down the hall ignoring the grouchy mercenary behind her.

The reporters were still gathered around the clinic. James and Zaeed stepped in front of Jane and Garrus, cutting a path through the cameras and journalists all trying to get video of the couple leaving the clinic hand in hand.

* * *

They made it to Alliance HQ about five minutes before the meeting with Hackett.

"Honestly," Kasumi grumbled. "You couldn't find a closer parking spot?"

"Hey!" James spat back. "I wasn't the only one in the car. If you saw a closer parking spot why didn't you say something?"

"I'm just saying," Kasumi continued. "Jane's pregnant and just barely off bed rest. You don't want to be the reason she has to go back on bed rest."

"I'm fine," Jane spoke up. "The walking is good for me."

"Are you sure?" Garrus worried, hovering over her as she marched across the parking lot.

"Not you too," Jane huffed in frustration. This had to stop. She could not handle everyone hovering, worrying and fussing over her like this.

"Look, she's already out of breath," Zaeed pointed toward Jane who was actually breathing just fine; not panting or having any trouble. "She just huffed."

"Out of frustration," Jane tried to explain but her claims fell on deaf ears as they all began to argue, talking over each other and drowning Jane out all together.

"Why didn't you drop Jane off at the front of the building then park the car?" Kasumi continued to question James.

"That would've been a great idea," Garrus agreed.

"I'm fine," Jane countered, continuing to walk along with them.

"We're closer to the car than the building," Zaeed pointed out. "Why don't you three turn around, James can drop them off at the building then park the car and catch up to us."

_Oh for the love of Christ!_  Jane thought.  _This has to stop._

With that thought firmly in her head, Jane stopped short in the parking lot, allowing everyone else to keep walking. They were so engrossed in their arguing that they didn't notice she wasn't with them. She stood there for a few more seconds as they continued to move away from her, waiting for them to notice they'd lost her. When they were two aisles of parked sky cars ahead of her, she gave up waiting and pulled out the pistol she'd strapped to her thigh; hidden under her shirt/dress. She aimed toward the clouds above her and shot off three rounds in quick succession.

Every person in the parking lot dropped to the ground. James and Garrus throwing themselves toward the empty space she would've been in their group to protect her. They cracked skulls before collapsing onto the pavement with a clattering scraping noise—Garrus' armor grinding against the concrete. She continued to stand there, her hands at her side; gun held firmly at her side as she waited for everyone to sort themselves out.

"What the hell, Lola!" James shouted, shoving himself off the ground first and running toward her.

Garrus was the second body up from the ground and he also came running toward her, his own pistol pulled from behind his back where he kept it hidden at all times. His eyes darted around the parking lot, looking for any possible threats. As they got closer, Jane raised her arm, pointing her pistol at the ground just in front of them and fired another shot, causing James to jump to the side while Garrus barely flinched. He continued toward her.

"That is close enough," Jane warned, her voice finally stopping Garrus.

"What's going on, love?" Garrus asked.

"Wait just a moment," Jane said, looking over his shoulder to Kasumi and Zaeed as they came up to the group. James had also joined them, everyone eyeing her wearily.

"Christ," Zaeed cursed as he came up next to Garrus. "Have you completely lost your mind, woman?"

"Maybe," Jane smirked, "or maybe I was just trying to get my point across."

"What point could that possibly be? That you have a gun?" James asked. "How do you have a gun? Where did you get it from?"

Jane pulled her dress up on the right side, showing the holster strapped to her thigh.

"Did you honestly think I would leave the house unarmed?"

"Well, yeah," James shrugged. "You had the four of us with you, why did you need a weapon?"

Raising an eyebrow, she just stared at the younger Marine.

"I was attacked in my own home," she finally reminded him when it became obvious that he wasn't going to connect the dots.

"But you have all of us with you," James repeated. "You don't need to be exerting yourself shooting a gun."

Jane gritted her teeth, clamping down on the anger that pulsed through her body that was starting to cause a dull ache behind her eyes. Did he honestly think firing her Phalanx was exertion? Did they truly see her as some fragile invalid? With every moment that went by, every question and doubt that moved through her mind Jane found her anger growing instead of receding as she had hoped. She couldn't stand to even look at the people in front of her. They were her friends, but they were treating her like she couldn't even care for herself.

Giving into the anger, she holstered her pistol and shoved past the group in front of her. She doubled her pace, storming toward the building that housed Hackett's office. She was going to get him to rescind the orders keeping James, and everyone else, at her house. She was getting every damn one of these nosey, busy bodies out of her life by the end of the day. She couldn't handle another moment of them hovering over her.

What was even worse was Garrus. He had joined right in with the worry warts. He was hovering, fussing, worrying about her as much as any of them. She could accept that he fussed over what she ate, how she slept, how much water she drank, but ever since James had moved in he'd been worse. He'd been fussing over her walking from their bedroom to the kitchen to get a damn glass of water. He had tried to carry her from their bed to the en suite bathroom one morning, afraid that she would over exert herself if she walked the mere ten feet on her own. No, she was done with this. She was done with all of it. She wanted her life back.

* * *

Jane burst through the door into Hackett's outer office, not even bothering to knock.

"Good afternoon," his receptionist chirped, "do you have an appointment with the Admiral?"

Jane didn't slow down for a second , instead pushing the younger woman out of her way and heading for the door that would open to Hackett's personal space within the larger office.

"Excuse me! You can't just barge in there!" the receptionist called from behind Jane as she pulled the office door closed behind her with a solid slam.

She'd made sure that she was the only one in the elevator, locking Garrus, Zaeed, James, and Kasumi out of the lift so that they wouldn't be with her when she got to Hackett's office. She was going to talk to him without them there to hover over her. They would probably try to brush her anger off as pregnancy hormones, belittling her feelings as unimportant because she obviously couldn't control them.

"Get them out of my house," she ground out when Admiral Hackett finally looked up from the data pad he was reading at his desk.

"Excuse me?" he asked, nonplussed by the angry, extremely deadly, pregnant woman in front of him.

"Rescind Vega's orders, remove the protection detail from my home or so help me, Steven, you will be missing a freshly trained N7 Marine," Jane gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Are you threatening violence?"

"Yes!" Jane shouted. "Violence. Murder. Mayhem. Whatever it takes to get you to pull him out of my house!"

"Jane," Admiral Hackett began as he pushed away from his desk and stood. He reached for the cane that was balancing on the desk next to him, leaning against it as he came around the piece of furniture.

"No!" she cut him off. "Don't Jane me. I am tired of being coddled. I am tired of being fussed over and worried about. I'm tired of being forced to stay put. I'm tired of other people arguing about what is right for me. I'm tired of not being heard!"

She paused momentarily, her chest heaving as she pressed a hand to her back, massaging her sore right hip. It had never completely healed properly from the damage done to it when the Crucible exploded, and now the weight of the baby along with the stress from having him moving around in there, caused the old injury to ache.

"Damn it, Admiral! I'm known as the Butcher of Torfan. I'm the first human Spectre. I took down Saren. I took a team through the Omega 4 Relay and brought them all back—an impossible mission—and while I was there I blew up the Collector base. If that doesn't prove that I'm able to care for myself and make the big decisions, I stopped the damn Reapers! I was willing to die to make sure those monsters never returned!" She was pacing the office now, tears of frustration streaming down her cheeks while she pounded her fist against her palm. "I deserve some damn respect. I'm tired of being treated like an invalid.  _You_  ordered this. So it's up to you to rescind the orders."

Jane deflated as she turned back to the Admiral. Her body let her know just how much the week of bed rest was affecting her as her hands began to shake, her knees feeling weak from almost running across an Alliance base and storming into the office. She'd taken two flights of stairs by foot when she'd realized that the elevator was stopping on every level between the ground floor and the seventh floor where the Admiral's office was. For just a moment, she worried that she'd overdone it, again.

"Are you done?" Hackett asked his voice laced with steel.

"Yes, sir," Jane answered, her spine straightening automatically, shoulders snapping back.

"Sit." Hackett gestured toward the arm chair Jane had stopped in front of.

Jane perched on the edge of the chair stiffly.

"Relax," Hackett ordered. "As you like to remind me, you're retired."

"Sorry, sir" Jane apologized, relaxing back into the chair, resting her sore spine. "It's reflexive. You start barking and I automatically snap to attention."

"Water?" Hackett asked.

"Um," Jane rolled the empty bottle in her hands sheepishly, she'd chugged the water in the elevator on her way up. "Yes, please."

Jane watched the Admiral as he walked slowly across his office to the refrigerator mounted in the wall next to a small bar. He'd lost his right leg in the final battle in London which left him with a small limp and a lot of balance issues. He'd just never gotten back to normal—but that was the story for many soldiers, including Jane. She could've offered to help but she knew he would just tell her no. He had to do this himself. She'd had many of those days during her recovery. Garrus would rush up to help her when she was wobbly and she would shove him away. So she sat and watched as he gathered up the bottles of water; carrying one to her. He took the arm chair that faced hers, hooking the crook of his cane over the arm of the chair.

"Talk to me, Jane," he spoke quietly, watching her roll the fresh bottle of water between her hands.

"We're having quite the dry summer," Jane said, sarcastically.

"Jane," he warned.

"What do you want me to say? They're driving me insane," she sighed. "I haven't had a moment of peace since they started showing up. When it was just James it wasn't so bad, but then the attack happened and the rest of the old crew started showing up. Now things have gotten out of hand. They turned my basement into a barracks!"

"Attack?" he gasped, choking on the sip of water he was in the process of taking when she said the word.

"I assumed you knew. I thought James had reported in."

Admiral Hackett looked up at Jane from below bushy, grey eyebrows as he wiped the water off his dress coat.

"I guess you didn't know," she muttered sheepishly.

"No, I didn't know," he mocked .

"Well, it doesn't really matter," Jane waved her hand in the air, trying to brush her verbal stumble away. "What matters is that James and the rest of the crew are driving me crazy and I know you were behind them all showing up. I want them gone."

"Actually," he started, "I only sent Vega and T'Soni."

"What?" Jane gaped.

"T'Soni mentioned that Garrus had asked her to monitor the personal mail you and he received. When she started getting substantial death threats she called me, suggesting that someone should be placed in your home for security. She suggested Vega since he'd been on your team previously. I agreed. She also requested that she be allowed to accompany Vega so that she could more easily keep him in the loop regarding the threats," Hackett explained. "Now, what did you say about an attack?"

"Turian supremacy group," Jane waved it away again. "If you only sent Vega and Liara then why do I have a ton of Alliance personnel along with most of my previous crew mates from the last three major missions I ran, living in my home?"

"That is something you should speak to Vega about," Hackett advised.

"I've tried!" Jane threw her hands in the air, splashing water out of her bottle. "They all refuse to talk to me. They don't want to worry me. 'Stress is bad for the baby, Jane. Why don't you just have a cup of tea and relax,'" she mocked.

A disturbance outside the door drew their attention, interrupting their conversation, just as Garrus slammed the door open, storming into the room. James, Zaeed, and Kasumi following close behind him and Hackett's receptionist pulled up the rear; stopping just inside the door way.

"I'm sorry, sir," the receptionist apologized. "I tried to stop them."

"It's fine, Tiffany," Hackett smiled. "I was expecting them."

"What the hell were you thinking, Jane?!" Garrus demanded as the receptionist left, pulling the door closed behind her with a quiet snick. "Chakwas released you from bed rest barely an hour ago and already you're putting our son in danger—running across the parking lot. Were you even thinking?"

Jane raised an eyebrow, glaring at her husband and refusing to answer him. Chakwas' orders said that she could return to normal activity as long as there was no discomfort. She was not running. Walking fast was not unacceptable. She was not out of breath when she reached Hackett's office, yes her hands had been shaking but she had felt no discomfort. The shaking was caused by her anger. The baby was moving around normally, he was showing no outward signs of discomfort. Who the hell was Garrus to question her? She was the one in her body, not him. She knew her limits and she was tired of him second guessing everything she did under the guise of worrying about the baby. After staring him down for a moment, she turned back to the Admiral, deciding to ignore the interruption completely.

"I believe you were saying something, Admiral," Jane spoke to Hackett, her tone cool and collected, all of the emotion she was feeling and showing only moments before was now tightly locked down. She refused to show any emotion because she knew Garrus, James, and the rest would blame whatever she was feeling on the pregnancy and ignore it under the pretense that it wasn't real.

"Yes," Hackett chuckled, "I believe I was telling you that you needed to speak to Vega and T'Soni about your extra house guests. I was also saying that I would not be rescinding my original orders. It is obvious that you need a security detail if you're being attacked in your own home. Honestly, I'm thinking we should move you to a safe house until we can figure out who was attacking you and why."

"We don't even know if they were after me," she protested. "They could've been after Garrus. He is the new Primarch."

"He is?" Hackett turned to look at the turian who was currently pacing on the other side of the office from where they sat.

"Yes," Jane beamed. "As much as he's been irritating the hell out of me, I'm excited for him. If he fusses about matters of state the way he fusses about what I'm eating and drinking, he'll be an awesome leader for his people."

"I do not 'fuss' about what you're eating. I do not 'fuss' at you," Garrus protested still pacing.

"Yes, you do," Jane countered. "You fuss about what I eat and drink, you worry about how long I spend sitting up during the day. You coddle me. Hell, the only reason you let me walk to the bathroom on my own is because I threatened to break your leg spurs if you didn't stop trying to carry me everywhere."

"Why would any turian want to attack their own Primarch?" Hackett asked, ignoring Garrus' outburst and Jane's rebuttal.

"Why did American citizens in Texas assassinate John F. Kennedy? They don't agree with something Garrus has done or they think he will do. They don't agree that he married a human."

"I don't care if they agree with me or not," Garrus spat, cutting in again, still pacing. He was beginning to remind her of a caged animal.

"I know you don't care but that doesn't change the facts that  _they_ don't agree with you. They're probably upset that you're living on Earth. And by now I bet they've heard that you don't plan to return to Palaven for your swearing in ceremony. You've racked up quite a few points against you with any turians who might still hold animosity toward humans," Jane pointed out without turning toward her husband.

"Well if they wanted a Primarch who lived on the home world then they shouldn't have given the position to me," Garrus stated.

"Laws state that they must offer it to the next family in line, no matter where that family may be, you have the right to decline the position," Kasumi spoke up.

"He can't do that," Jane explained. "It would shame his clan."

"What?" Kasumi cocked her head, confused. "No it wouldn't. There's no shame in a turian getting comfortable in his current position. They always have the ability to decline a promotion."

"That's not what Garrus told me," Jane spoke slowly, her mind turning over that first conversation she'd had with Garrus after Callus had told him about the promotion.

"Jane," Garrus stopped pacing. He was holding his hands behind his back, something he only did when he was nervous.

"You said that you would shame your clan if you declined. You said you didn't have a child to pass the position to so if you declined it would go on to the next clan and shame your clan," Jane cut him off, pulling herself up from the chair she was sitting in so she could walk over to him.

"Yes," Garrus looked down, sighing. "That's what I said. But that's not exactly what I meant. Can we talk about this later? We're here to meet with the Admiral and brief him on your current security situation."

Jane glared at Garrus, furious that he'd lied to her. But he had a point. They weren't there to fight in the Admiral's office over Garrus lying through his teeth and thinking she wouldn't find out.

"Fine," she huffed. "I'll be waiting in the car. You 'brief' the admiral."

* * *

"How dare you!" Jane hissed at Garrus as James, Zaeed and Kasumi bolted from the car the moment it touched down at their home. "What were you thinking? You yelled at me like I was an insolent child, like I was a disobedient underling, and in front of the Admiral. What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me?" Garrus shot back, shoving the driver's seat forward so he could get out of the car. "I had just watched my extremely pregnant wife practically run across a parking lot and to make matters worse, you were running from me!"

"Of course I was," Jane threw her hands up, knocking her knuckles against the ceiling of the sky car. "You were treating me like a fragile piece of china. You were coddling me! I expected this behavior from the others, but  _not_  from you! I trusted that you would continue to treat me with respect, and you haven't."

"What do you mean? How is worrying about you, about our son, wrong?" Garrus pulled himself out of the car, leaning back in to offer her a hand out but she moved away to the other side of the car and pushed the front passenger seat forward so she could get out the opposite side.

"I trusted you…" Jane started again but her voice broke with tears that were trying to spill. Tears of anger or pain, she wasn't sure. "I trusted you," she whispered, leaving it at that.

"Trusted?" Garrus caught on to the past tense. "Trusted—as in you don't trust me any longer?"

Jane shook her head, reaching out to grasp the roof of the car and pull herself out.

"Why not?"

"You  _lied_ to me!" Jane snarled, moments away from screaming in frustration, as she got out of the car.

"Jane," Garrus spoke slowly, as though he was trying to tame a wild animal. "Calm down, please. Think about our baby."

"Don't you dare bring him into this, Garrus," Jane growled. "I'm tired of everyone using this pregnancy as an excuse to leave me out of things, make decisions for me, omit important information and  _lie to me_ ," the last words warped by an escaping sob. She had been trying so hard to hold the tears in, so hard to not let him see just how upset she was, "and don't tell me to think about the baby. I think about him. Every time he moves, every time he hiccups, every time I can't get up from the couch because of the weight I've gained; I think about him. I replay that attack in my mind every night when I close my eyes, I try to think of another way I could've defended myself. There was no other way. If I hadn't fought, we would both be dead. You would've found us bleeding out…. " she gasped again, attempting to hide another sob; unable to finish the thought.

"I didn't lie," Garrus shouted, finally losing his temper. "I just didn't tell you the whole truth."

"That's the definition of a lie, Garrus!" Jane shouted right back. "If you aren't telling the truth you're  _lying_!"

"Fine!" Garrus shouted back. "I lied, but I had a good reason!"

"Oh?" Jane didn't believe him. "Please, do tell. I'd  _love_  to hear your reason."

"You won't understand. You wouldn't have then, that's why I didn't tell you," Garrus sneered.

They were standing on opposite sides of the hood of the car. Jane planted her hands on the hood, leaning forward so she was closer to Garrus when she spoke.

"Try me," she hissed.

"It's my father, okay?" Garrus shoved way from the car, pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead. "What Kasumi said is true. If I declined I wouldn't technically be shamed. But would you want to be the one who declined the position of Primarch? Would you want to face your people knowing you'd chosen  _not_  to lead them? My father would've been ashamed. I just barely got my relationship with him ironed out as it is, I don't want to lose him again."

"I don't buy it, Garrus," Jane shot back. "It's completely acceptable for you to decline a promotion and you're telling me that your father would've shamed you? He's too much of a rule follower for that."

"I knew you wouldn't understand!" Garrus exploded.

"Then explain it, Garrus!" Jane shouted right back. "You're giving me excuses, you're not explaining it. Why would this be the thing your father shamed you for? Why would you lie to me?"

Jane stood there rubbing a hand over her stomach; trying to calm the baby who was suddenly rolling around and kicking furiously, as she stared at her husband waiting for an answer. She could forgive his lying if he would just explain it. There was more going on here than he was telling her, which meant he could've been lying to her for a while.  _No!_  She refused to believe that he'd been lying to her before now. There had to be an explanation. Didn't he trust her? After a few minutes, Garrus finally met her gaze and as she looked in his eyes; her heart broke. He wasn't going to tell her. Anything that came out of his mouth was going to be a lie. She knew it. He'd shut down.

"Damn it, Garrus," she cursed quietly. "I thought you trusted me."

She turned away from him, walking toward the house. She bit her cheek to keep the tears at bay—damn hormones.

"I do trust you, Jane," he pled as he followed her.

"No, you don't," she told him. "If you did, we wouldn't be talking about this at all. If you did, you would talk to me."

"Would you stop…..please?" he asked, grabbing her upper arm and stopping her before she stepped up onto the front patio. "I don't want to upset you. I know you think you're fine, but I don't want to stress you out. I don't want to harm the baby. If you'd just calm down I would talk to you."

"That's all it ever is.  _'Calm down, Jane.' 'Relax, Jane.'_  Why won't you talk to me? Why do you think hiding things from me will stop the stress? I am more stressed now because I know you're hiding things from me. Everyone thinks that keeping me in the dark is going to help me or the baby, but it's not. It's doing more harm than good, Garrus. You're hurting us." Jane looked past his left shoulder, not able to meet his eyes. She didn't want to see the truth there again. She was afraid that she'd see something worse than the fact that he didn't trust her. She didn't even know what could be worse.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Sorry for what?"

"I upset you. I didn't mean to. You have to believe that I never meant to hurt you. I never meant for you to find out about this from someone else. I planned to explain it to you."

"Did you? Really?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yes!"

"When?" she finally met his eyes, "When did you plan to tell me you lied to me and took a position to lead your people that you didn't really want?"

Again, Garrus looked away, breaking their eye contact.

"That's what I thought," she said quietly, feeling defeated as she pulled her arm out of his grasp and wrapped it around her stomach to cradle the child within.

She could feel her heart breaking as she turned away from him. She shoved all the grief that was welling up inside her to the back of her mind and allowed the anger to carry her into the house as she heard his heavy steps behind her. He'd lied to her. Not once, not twice, but three times and two of those lies had happened in the last five minutes.

* * *

The slam of the front door startled Liara where she was sitting at the kitchen island reading over the reports the security team had left behind.

"Jane!"

She heard Garrus call a moment later as he entered the house. Jane must've come in first. There was a hissed conversation in the front foyer that Liara couldn't quite hear and then Jane went stomping past the kitchen toward the back of the house. A moment later Garrus stormed past, his steps eating up the lead Jane had. Liara flinched reflexively when Garrus wrapped his hand around Jane's upper arm, jerking her to a stop. Grabbing Jane when she was in a mood was a bad idea; something Garrus should've known by now.

* * *

"You have two choices," Jane hissed at him. "You can remove your hand voluntarily or I can remove it painfully."

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Garrus snarled right back, too angry at her to realize the danger he'd put himself in.

A moment later he regretted that mistake. With a move too quick for even his predatory reflexes to follow, Jane reached out, grabbing his arm at the wrist. She squeezed her small fingers between the thinner plates there, digging into a pressure point and causing his grip on her arm to go slack against his will. In the next moment he was on his knees, his arm bent behind his back; fingers touching his wrist at an unnatural angle. He snarled instinctively, fighting against the hold she had on him.

_Why was she doing this? Didn't she know that physical exertion like this could cause the baby more harm. What was she thinking? Why couldn't she see that he was just trying to protect his child and his mate? Where had all this anger come from? Why wasn't she being rational?_

Questions raced through his mind as he became angrier with Jane; clouding his mind as he snarled louder. He bucked against her hold even as the rational part of him told him to stop fighting, there was a chance he could harm their child, but that rational part was being overpowered by instinct. He was hard wired to fight, to not allow himself to be dominated, and here she was shoving him to his knees, forcing him to submit.

Jane dragged her hand up the back of his neck letting her fingers slide between the spines of his fringe before she squeezed, her nails digging in slightly. She pulled his head backward, leaning down so her check brushed against his temple as her lips came close to his ear.

"Look where you are, Garrus," she whispered, her breath heating the flesh between his plates and dancing across his face. "I put you here without breaking a sweat. I'm not out of breath. I. Put. You. Here," she enunciated each word slowly. "And I didn't harm the baby at all. Does that prove to you that I can care for our child? Is this what it takes to show you that I'm not fragile? That I  _am_  strong enough to be your mate? Will you trust me now? Respect me now?"

She paused and he felt wetness slip between his plates, sliding down his face and he knew it wasn't sweat from her brow. The rational part of his brain made a bid for control, screaming that she was hurting and he was to blame, but his instincts overpowered him again. The growl in his chest rose in volume as he shifted. In this state, he didn't see her as his pregnant mate; he saw her as an adversary. He needed to put her off balance.

"You seem to forget who you married, Vakarian," she whispered menacingly.

He struggled against the hold she had on his wrist, forcing her to crowd his back to keep him subdued. It was the bump of her stomach against the back of his cowl that finally kick started his higher thought processes; allowing the rational part to finally take control. He stopped his struggling, but couldn't quiet the growl rumbling in his chest. He was turian, after all.

_Oh, Spirits, what was he doing?_  He needed to stop this before she hurt herself or the child. As much as it pained him, he forced his muscles to relax and his body to submit so she would let him go. He fought against his instincts; focusing on the part of his brain that knew who was behind him, that knew she was hurting and lashing out at him because he'd caused that pain.

She held him there, his arm pinned between them and his head pulled back just far enough to be painful without causing actual harm for long moments. He could feel the muscle in her jaw tick as she gritted her teeth; trying to regain control of her emotions. Her breath hissed through her nose as she breathed hard. Finally, she released him and stepped back so he could get back to his feet. He was rubbing his sore wrist as he watched her.

"Jane…" he began as she turned to walk out of the room, reaching for her again but not making contact. Whatever he was going to say died on his tongue as his eyes met hers. They were filled with tears; her cheeks wet as they spilled over, trailing down to gather on her jaw. She stood tall, her shoulders back; chin up, even though he was sure she was falling apart inside.

"No, Garrus," Jane gave a firm shake of her head, pulling away from his outstretched hand. "You need to leave. Now."

"What?" he gasped. He needed to stay, not leave. He needed to make this better. He needed to see her smile, to wipe away her tears. He needed to fix this.

"You need to go. I don't care where, but you need to not be here. I can't have you near me right now," her voice broke as her eyes welled with more tears. "I can't look at you knowing you don't respect me enough to tell me the truth. I can't handle knowing you don't trust me. I…" she stopped, closing her eyes and tipping her head back for a second as she gathered her strength before facing him again. "I need to be alone. I want you to leave."

She turned on her heel then, continuing her path through the house. He watched her go, one hand on her lower back, nursing the ever persistent pain there. She hesitated for a moment at the mouth of the hallway. He thought she'd turn around, maybe tell him she changed her mind, but she didn't. Seconds ticked by and then he heard the nursery door close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before someone says it, I'm going to bring it up; the end of this chapter isn't healthy by any means. I want you to know that *I* know what I wrote. But I'm going to tell it to you all straight, even the most loving relationships have unhealthy moments. I remember hearing about my grandma withholding sex because she was angry at my grandpa. I saw a fight with my parents escalate to the point my mom raised her hand to my dad. She literally LOST it and he gave her one half-hearted slap to the cheek after taking it for a long time. And I had the conversation with my mom after that fight where she explained it was NOT healthy and NOT okay what my dad did to her OR what she did to him. 
> 
> So, yes, the end of this chapter isn't healthy. What Jane does is wrong, but it's also human and fraught with emotion that she doesn't know how to articulate. So, it happened.


	12. Chapter 12

_Ping!_

Garrus groaned and rolled on to his side, swatting his hand out toward the bedside table where his omni-tool normally rested while he slept. His hand met air and he grumbled. Leaning further over the edge of the bed, he stretched; trying to reach the table, which had obviously been moved, though he couldn't fathom why. He batted his hand, putting more force behind the move in hopes of catching the edge of the table.

_Thwump!_

"Son of a bitch!" Garrus snarled into the cement below his face as he remembered where he was. He couldn't reach the bedside table because he wasn't sleeping in his bed. Three days earlier, Jane had locked him out of their room and refused to allow him entry leaving him no choice but to sleep on the cot in his basement workroom.

_Ping! Ping!_ His omni-tool chirped again, reminding him that he had an incoming call still waiting to be answered. He rolled until he was sitting up, his back against the side of the cot, retrieved his omni-tool from the floor next to the head of his cot, and accepted the call.

* * *

"Good morning," Alitus Vakarian chirped cheerfully as his son's face hovered over his wrist.

"'Mornin'," Garrus muttered, rubbing his face with his other hand.

"You look exhausted," Alitus observed as Garrus yawned, his mandibles flaring wide and his jaw popping as he stretched the muscles.

"I am exhausted," Garrus answered.

"Is Jane not letting you sleep?" Alitus asked. His subharmonics rang with humor as he took in his son's disheveled appearance. "Your mother was insatiable when she was carrying you and your sister."

"Dad!" Garrus snapped, suddenly wide awake. "I did not need to know that!"

"What?" Alitus asked innocently, though his subharmonics said otherwise. "I'm not asking for details, nor am I giving any. I'm just sympathizing with your plight, if it could be called that. Some would say it can't, though the guys in C-sec claim I was walking with a limp a week before you arrived."

"Please," Garrus groaned, covering his face again. "Stop talking now or I'm going to disconnect this call."

Alitus chuckled, his head tossed back slightly as he enjoyed his son's embarrassment. Ever since they'd reunited and accepted their differences, their relationship had shown improvement. He enjoyed teasing Garrus, knowing now that he could get away with it without his son cutting ties with their family. He also enjoyed being able to be there for Garrus when he needed someone to talk to. From what he'd heard through the grape vine, that was exactly what Garrus needed.

"Okay, okay," Alitus chuckled one last time before calming down. "Don't hang up. I'll behave."

"I don't buy that for a second," Garrus rumbled.

"How are you?" Alitus continued as though his son hadn't spoken. "How's Jane? How's my grandson?"

"Fine," Garrus answered. "We're all fine."

Alitus stared at his son through the vid-call. He wasn't sure about Jane or the baby, but he knew for a fact that Garrus was not fine. Garrus' subharmonics were too quiet. It wasn't uncommon for them to be quiet if nothing was happening, but there is a difference between the volume being turned down and them being completely muted. There wasn't anything for Alitus to hear.

"Is that so?" Alitus asked, skeptical. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Garrus answered quickly, almost too quickly. "We're fine."

Alitus continued to stare at his son, barely blinking. He'd been a fine interrogator in his time with C-sec because of his patience. He was willing to wait a suspect out, to give them time to get lost in their brain while they tried to figure out what he was thinking. Eventually, they'd tell him everything he wanted to know. The only hiccup in this plan was that his 'suspect', as it were, was his son. Garrus had his mother's stubborn streak and Alitus' patience—it's why he was a renowned sniper. Just as Alitus was beginning to think that Garrus wouldn't be swayed into talking, Garrus spoke up.

"We saw the doctor Friday," He began. "She said the baby is doing fine and released Jane from bed rest."

"That's wonderful," Alitus smiled. "I bet Jane was excited."

"Extremely," Garrus nodded. "We had another ultrasound done. I have some pictures I can send to you if you'd like to see them."

"Of course I'd like to see them," Alitus scoffed. "They're of my grandson. I'll take anything you're willing to share."

Garrus pressed a few keys on his omni-tool and a few seconds later Alitus' own device pinged to announce the arrival of a message. He opened the message to find five photos attached.

"The first is of his…" Garrus began but Alitus finished the sentence for him.

"…his feet," Alitus said over Garrus. "I've seen my share of human ultrasounds. We didn't have a lot of humans in c-sec while I was there, but the ones we had shared everything with anyone who'd listen. I think it's a human trait."

After that, Garrus sat quietly as Alitus looked through the photos.

"Oh, he got that habit from you," Alitus chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Garrus asked.

"He has his thumb in his mouth," Alitus explained, a smile still on his face. "Your mother and I had the hardest time breaking you of that habit. You were always gnawing on your thumbs. We were afraid your thumb talons would never grow properly because of it."

"Dad, he's human. Completely human," Garrus explained. "There is no way he received any of my bad habits because there's nothing of me in him."

Alitus raised a brow plate at his son, shocked to hear him say such a thing. Through all of Jane's pregnancy, Garrus had vehemently defended his rights as the child's father. The little boy that Jane carried was Garrus' child, and he would brook no speculation otherwise. It was very odd to hear him now stating that the child was in no part his. While it was true—biologically the child was not his—it was still very odd to hear Garrus say it. Something was very wrong.

"He's gnawing on his thumb," Alitus reminded his own son, pointed toward the picture hovering in front of him as though Garrus could see it.

"A lot of human children suck their thumbs," Garrus explained. "It's completely normal."

"I bet it's a hard habit to break with them, too," Alitus shot back. "How do you take a thumb away? You can take a teether away, but you can't take a thumb away. It's attached." Again, he held his own digit up as explanation.

"Just because he's sucking his thumb in that ultrasound doesn't mean it'll become a habit," Garrus defending the unborn child. "And if it does, we'll deal with it then. Right now, I'm just happy he's healthy."

"We all are," Alitus agreed. "So how much longer does Jane have?"

"Nine weeks."

"So soon," Alitus gasped.

"Human pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, dad," Garrus explained.

"Are you prepared?" Alitus asked.

"We've bought everything we should need in the beginning, I've put the crib and bassinet together," Garrus explained. "We're as ready as we can be, I guess."

Alitus nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"It's hard to feel prepared when it's your first child. Your mother fretted about every small detail before Solana arrived."

"Nesting," Garrus nodded. "Jane has been doing that, as well. Making sure the overnight bag is packed for when we have to go to the hospital and double and triple checking the parenting and birthing books we purchased. She's been a little possessed."

"It's completely normal," Alitus explained, hoping to put his son at ease. Something was still bothering Garrus, he could tell. It was there in his son's gaze whenever their eyes met. If only he could find the right words that would allow Garrus to tell him what was bothering him. If only he could get his son to talk.

"I know," Garrus nodded. "I'm not too worried about it. I just try to help whenever she'll allow me to."

"She doesn't want your help?"

"Not always," Garrus shrugged. "She's very adamant that she's still able to do things on her own."

Alitus hummed in the back of his throat, acknowledging Garrus' comment and agreeing with it. Mialyn had been the same way, very stubborn. She refused to be coddled and looked after while she was pregnant. More than once, she shut him out of their room or sent him away because she felt he was smothering her and treating her like a weakling.

"And I'm sure she is," Alitus reminded Garrus. "Pregnancy doesn't make a female weak."

"But the baby's so large," Garrus began. "How can she even bend to tie her shoes with him in her way?"

"Females are stubborn," Alitus chuckled.

There was a pause in the call and Alitus watched as Garrus fidgeted. After a few more moments of silence, Alitus spoke up.

"Is there anything else going on? You seem pre-occupied."

"Sorry, dad," Garrus turned his attention back to the vid-call. "No, there's nothing else going on. I should get going, though."

"Alright," Alitus sighed, resigning to the fact that he wouldn't get any more information from Garrus over the vid-call. "I'm always a vid-call away if you need to talk."

"I know," Garrus smiled, but again his subharmonics were quiet and the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Thanks, dad."

Alitus bowed his head once, acknowledging Garrus before he said his good byes and disconnected from the call. He sat a moment after the call had disconnected, mulling over the conversation with Garrus while looking through the ultrasound pictures again. His grandson really was quite handsome, for a human, now they'd just have to get his thumb out of his mouth.

Garrus had Alitus worried. His subharmonics were off, when they were coming through at all, which was very odd for his son. Garrus was hot headed, known for not holding back. He was always chewing on boot leather because he'd put his foot in his mouth with some or other subharmonic snipe made toward a superior. If Garrus' subharmonics were screaming, Alitus knew he was okay and he'd make it out of whatever he was going through, but if they were quiet it was a sign to start worrying. Garrus' had been basically nonexistent. No doubt about it, something was wrong.

* * *

Eight hours later, Alitus stepped off the shuttle and was greeted by Admiral Hackett.

"Ambassador," The Admiral spoke, bowing his head in respect to Alitus' position within the turian government.

" Steven," Alitus acknowledged the Admiral's bow with a downward tilt of his own chin. "No need for titles."

"Of course," Hackett agreed. "How was the flight?"

"Long and boring, exactly as I expected it to be," Alitus answered as he fell into step next to Hackett. They crossed the short tarmac, heading toward the lone sky car parked nearby.

"You weren't given any trouble were you?" Hackett asked.

"Of course not," Alitus assured him. "The Admiral of the Fifth fleet approved my travel papers." Alitus chuckled. "Those poor sods were all but wetting themselves as they processed everything and made space on a shuttle for me."

Hackett's laugh joined Alitus' as they came to a halt next to the sky car.

"Alitus Vakarian this is Private First Class Nathan Page," Hackett introduced him to the young Marine standing next to the vehicle. "PFC Page, this is Ambassador Alitus Vakarian. Page will deliver you to your son's home."

The young man saluted Admiral Hackett before reaching for the carry-on bag slung over Alitus' shoulder. He handed the bag over slowly, finding it hard to relinquish what he knew was encased in the worn leather.

"I'll put this in the back seat so that it will be near you," PFC Page suggested in response to Alitus' reluctance to give the bag up.

"I will sit in the front seat," Alitus corrected the marine. "You are not my chauffeur."

"Aye aye, sir," Page answered. He set the leather bag gently on the front passenger seat before walking around to the driver's side of the sky car.

"It seems it's time for me to depart," Alitus said with a grin to Hackett.

"Indeed. Good luck," Hackett chuckled as he wished luck upon Alitus. "I think you're going to need it."

Alitus returned the older human's chuckle with a wry smile of his own before picking up his bag and taking his seat in the car.

* * *

"James and I are going grocery shopping. Is there anything you need me to pick up while we're out?"

Liara stilled in the overstuffed arm chair she was sitting in while reading over reports from her agents. She waited, barely breathing, trying to make herself smaller or invisible while Garrus spoke to Jane.

"No, thank you," Jane responded coldly.

"I noticed you were out of that tea you like," Garrus spoke again, his voice level and calm though his mandibles were flickering nervously. "I can stop at the local tea shop and pick up more."

"Whatever," Jane shrugged, not looking up from the data pad she was reading. "Do whatever you want."

Garrus cringed at Jane's cool, detached tone. He stood in the doorway, his mouth moving as though he were trying out different words, possibly trying to put together a sentence, before he finally gave up. With a barely audible click, his jaws snapped closed; mandibles falling into place against his face plates before he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Jane," Liara spoke quietly after she heard the front door close behind Garrus. "Don't you think you're being a little hard on Garrus?"

"No."

The one word was a gunshot in the room, clipped and loud compared to the quiet tone used by Liara.

"He made a mistake," Liara tried again.

"Indeed," Jane cut Liara off to agree.

"…Granted it was a very large mistake…"

"Heh!" Jane scoffed as she finally looked up from her data pad.

"…But how can you justify this sort of reaction?" Liara finally finished.

"He lied." Her tone made it clear she refused to accept any other reasoning for Garrus' behavior. She had tried and condemned him already.

"You've lied to him before," Liara pointed out, trying another tactic. Perhaps it wasn't the best line of reasoning, but it was the only idea Liara could come up with.

Jane had built a wall around herself. She'd begun building it soon after waking up in the med bay on the Normandy. At first, they'd all thought it was a coping mechanism for handling the questions fired at her by reporters and officials all demanding to know what happened on the Citadel. Now, though, watching the way Jane had cut Garrus out of her life, refusing to listen to him or spend any time near him, Liara wondered just how high those walls were. What were the criteria Jane used to allow people behind them? What had Garrus really done that caused Jane to react like this? What had caused this behavior?

Jane arched an eyebrow at Liara, her lips pursing as she stared at the asari. Her hard emerald glare bore into Liara's soft blue gaze; challenging her to continue down the path she'd started.

"Omega…" Liara spoke clearly but no louder than she had earlier. Jane's eyes flickered away from her own for a moment. Liara allowed her own gaze to follow where Jane's had gone though she couldn't find anything interesting in the trees and grass outside the patio door so she looked back to Jane.

"London," Liara spoke again. She'd found a chink in Jane's armor and she was going to continue to pound at it until she made a dent. At the mention of London, Jane's green eyes snapped back to Liara.

"What do you know about London?" Jane hissed.

"I'm the Shadow Broker," Liara bluffed. She knew very little about what happened on the ground in London as she'd been on the Normandy the whole time.

"The decisions I made during the London mission are not open for discussion," Jane snapped as she shoved herself up from the couch and marched out of the living room. Liara set the data pad she'd been using down on the coffee table and followed Jane.

"Why is that, Jane?" Liara questioned as she followed her down the hall. "Are you ashamed of the decisions you made?"

"Liara," Jane stopped short in the hallway, turning to face Liara as she spoke through clenched teeth, a sure sign she was fighting to hold her emotions at bay. She took a moment to calm herself before continuing normally. "London has nothing to do with this. He lied to me. He made a decision that could change our whole lives based off what he thinks _other people_ want him to do, not what _he_ wants to do."

"And how is this different than what you did during the war?"

Liara knew she was pushing Jane, but someone had to. There was something more going on in Jane's mind than just Garrus' lie. If that was all it was she would've blown up on him, maybe ignored him for a few hours, but eventually would've gotten past it and allowed him to explain himself. Jane was stalled at being angry, she hadn't gotten past it and she definitely hadn't allowed Garrus to explain himself.

"What did you just say?!" Jane gasped; shock evident on her face.

_Finally!_ Liara gave a mental fist pump as she watched the emotions playing across Jane's face. She was finally cracking the wall Jane had built around herself.

"You've lied to every member of your teams more times than any of us can count. The decisions you made were colored with the wants of others. Those decisions dictated the orders you gave and we always followed them," Liara hammered on now that she'd found a way to get under Jane's skin.

Jane gasped, the glare she'd fixed on Liara faltered as tears came to the surface making her eyes shine. She tore her gaze from Liara's as she turned her back on her friend. Her arms wrapped around her middle, hugging herself as her shoulders buckled. She quickened her pace down the hall, attempting to flee Liara.

"Don't you dare!" Liara called as she followed Jane down the hall. "You're **done** running, Jane."

"Liara," Jane begged as she got to her office door. "Leave me be, please?"

"No," Liara spoke forcefully, stepping up to box Jane in and stop her from fleeing again. "I think we need to talk."

"I don't want to," Jane shook her head. "I'm not ready."

"That's what you tell your therapist every week," Liara countered, shoving her shoulder against the office door, stopping Jane from slamming it shut. "When will you be ready to face what happened in London? When will you be ready to face that you made a decision that is directly responsible for killing every Geth in the universe? Legion fought for their lives, fought so they could continue to live and you killed them all."

It hurt to hear Jane cry as Liara brought up London and the battle for the Citadel. However, Liara now knew that they had to tackle that before they could go forward. Then Jane would be ready to face what had happened with Garrus.

"You brought Tali and Ashley with on the ground in London," Liara continued. "Tali died."

Jane's knees buckled as she sobbed, grabbing the edge of the desk in front of her as she fell to her knees on the floor. Liara followed her down, staying close but not touching her.

"Tali's dead," she whispered. "Legion is dead. Thane is dead. They were your team, they followed your orders, they trusted you, and now they're dead." Liara stopped to take a deep breath and gather her own emotions. She couldn't let Jane know that this was hurting her. Jane needed to face this and no one else seemed to be willing to make her. "Anderson is dead. The bullet pulled from his abdomen came from the gun they found with you."

"Stop," Jane begged her voice barely audible.

"No," Liara answered. "They trusted you. They believed in you. They accepted the decisions you made no matter what they thought because of the belief they had in you, and now they're gone. What do you have to say about that?"

Jane sat on the floor, holding herself as she cried, her face turned away from Liara.

"What will you tell their families? Will you give them the same answers you gave the officials? What will you tell their loved ones? Some stock answer thought up by a Public Relations representative employed by the Alliance?" Liara pressed further.

"I watched Tali die," Liara continued, her voice wavering with her own barely contained anguish. "I held her hand as she took her last breath. Chakwas couldn't save her. What do you have to say to me? What can you possibly say to make the pain any less?" Liara let the tears fall now. "Why did you have to take her? Why didn't you take me then? Why did you send for me after? She would still be alive if I had been with you the whole time."

"It was my choice to make," Jane whispered through her tears. "And I needed a tech specialist."

"Then why didn't you take EDI?" Liara demanded.

"EDI needed to stay with the ship. I needed her to stay with Joker and help with Sword," Jane tried to explain.

"And Garrus? Why couldn't you take Garrus? You'd taken him on every other mission," Liara continued to demand, crying now as she relived her final moments with Tali. "Why not London?"

Jane knelt on the ground in front of Liara, her face in her hands as she shook her head from side to side, refusing to answer the questions Liara asked.

"I'm waiting for an answer Jane," Liara prompted. "And I won't leave until I get one."

They sat like that for long moments. The tears running down Liara's cheeks; a silent twin to the sobs that wracked Jane's body. Finally, Jane broke the silence.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked, desperation in her voice. "I have no answer. I've never had an answer. Everyone wants to know why I did what I did, and I have no answer."

Liara sat quietly as she watched Jane continue to cry. She'd moved from kneeling to sitting on the floor, her back pressed against the back of her desk. She pressed her head against the wood, looking up toward the ceiling.

"I did what I thought was best," Jane continued, speaking slowly and quietly. "I chose who I thought would best help me. Tali and Ashley have been with me since the beginning. Though so have you and Garrus. I needed someone who could lay down a lot of damage, that's why I chose Ashley."

"But why Tali?" Liara asked, moving so she was sitting next to Jane now.

Jane didn't answer; instead she started to sob harder, her chin dropping to her chest as she covered her face again. Obviously, this was a very tender spot for Jane, but something that she had to come to terms with. Liara wrapped her arm around Jane's shoulders, pulling her close as Jane continued to cry.

"Jane," Liara prompted after Jane had calmed down again, her sobs slowing to sniffles. "You need to talk about this. I have the sinking feeling that this is part of why you're so angry with Garrus. Please, why Tali?"

"You'll hate me," Jane whispered into Liara's shirt. "I can't tell anyone."

"I won't hate you," Liara promised. "And you need to tell someone. You can't keep this bottled up."

"I couldn't bear to lose you," Jane spoke quietly. "Either of you. You're my best friend, Liara. He's my mate. I knew someone could be killed on that mission," Jane stopped and took a deep breath, straightening up so she wasn't leaning against Liara. She kept her eyes focused on her hands, her fingers twisted together tightly in her lap. "I hoped no one would die, I prayed no one would be hurt, but I'm a soldier, born and raised a soldier. The harsh reality in a situation like that is someone could and probably would die."

"But why Tali," Liara pressed.

"You and Garrus were out of the picture. I chose Ashley because she requested to be with me in London and she would be able to lay down a lot of fire power quickly. She's proficient with both a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. All I needed was a tech expert to round out the group. That left EDI or Tali. I needed EDI to stay with the ship and help Joker if Sword was going to have any chance of pulling off the battle up there and keeping the Crucible safe. All that left me was Tali," Jane yanked her hands apart, throwing them out and then down onto her knees.

"I hated having to chose," Jane's words were warped by an escaping sob. "Tali was the baby sister I never had. I sent her back as soon as I realized she'd been injured. Ashley wasn't going to make the run to the beam either. I had no idea what that run would entail which is why I had you and James rendezvous with me."

They sat quietly as Jane's confession sunk in. Liara didn't know what to say. On one hand she was shocked that the decision had been one made by such a simple process of elimination, on the other she knew that was the only way Jane could've come to such a decision.

"I hate that damn war!" Jane's shout broke the silence, causing Liara to jump next to her. "I hate what it turned me into. I hate that that's all I'll be remembered for." Jane continued to shout to the walls. "I hate that I'll only be known as the Savior of the Galaxy. What I'm doing now; my attempts to help rebuild what was lost, every program I've tried to put in place, every suggestion I make. The only reason they're even considered is because they came from me. Why didn't I die that day? I wish I'd died that day," Jane's tirade ended on another sob as she crumpled and Liara leaned over quickly, wrapping her arms around Jane's shoulders, pulling the sobbing woman into her embrace.

"Why wouldn't they just let me die?" Jane sobbed against Liara's shoulder. "Why was I the one Miranda brought back? Why was I the one that mattered? I'm nobody. I'm just a Navy brat who had nothing better to do when she came of age so she joined the Alliance. I don't deserve the fame or medals. I did nothing special but everyone says I did. I didn't save everyone. I failed!"

"Shh," Liara cradled Jane, rocking her as she rubbed her back. "You didn't fail, Jane."

"Yes, I did!" Jane cried. "I failed over and over again. I failed Kaidan on Virmire, Mordin on Tuchanka, Thane on the Citadel, Legion on Rannoch and then again in London when I killed his entire race. But what was I supposed to do?" she gasped, sobbing harder against Liara as she poured out the pain she'd been carrying for too many years. "I had choices. I could have controlled the reapers, but then I would've been no different than them. I could've destroyed all synthetic life in the galaxy, guaranteeing the reapers would be gone. Or I could have melded my organic DNA with synthetic programming across the galaxy, making us all organic and synthetic. And I chose to destroy all synthetics…"

"Why?" Liara prompted.

"Because I'm selfish," Jane sobbed.

"You're not selfish," Liara contradicted her quickly. "You saved us all, that's not selfish."

"That's not why I did it!" Jane cried. "It was the only option that gave me a slim chance of coming back to Garrus. I didn't choose to destroy them because I wanted to save the galaxy. In that moment, when I fired the Catalyst, the only thought in my mind was Garrus. I didn't want to die; I wanted to come back to him. It was selfish!"

Liara held Jane as she cried. She kept chanting that she was selfish.

"I didn't deserve to survive," Jane whispered as she clutched Liara's soaked shirt in her fist, clinging to her friend.

"Yes, you did," Liara answered quietly as she ran her hand over Jane's hair and back, trying to soothe her. "Yes, you did."

"I made so many mistakes," Jane mumbled, burying her face against Liara as she continued to cry.

"We all make mistakes," Liara reminded Jane.

"But I've made so many," Jane argued. "And now," Jane stopped to sniffle. Reaching her arm over her head she patted her hand along the desk top until she knocked a box of tissues down into her lap. She pulled one free of the box and wiped at her eyes as she sat up. "Now I've really screwed up."

"How so?"

"He's taken this position because everyone wants him to. Everyone, including me," Jane explained. "After Callus' call, Garrus and I talked about this decision. He told me it was something he used to dream about when he was a little boy and I encouraged him to go for it. I told him he would make a great leader."

"And he will," Liara agreed.

"But is that what _he_ wants? Or is he doing it because he thinks I ordered him to do it? Is he taking this position because he thinks he has to?" Jane's lips trembled as another wave of tears threatened to crash over her. "And if he takes it and fails will he blame me? Is this another bad decision I made? Another bad order I've given?"

"Jane," Liara began, choosing her words carefully. "If Garrus really didn't want to be Primarch he wouldn't take the position. Encouraging him to do something he has dreamed about is not the same as giving an order."

"How do you know?" Jane asked. "I mean, that's what I thought too but then he gave me that line about how he had to take it or his father would be ashamed."

"His father being ashamed of him has never stopped him before," Liara reminded Jane.

"This is a little bigger than leaving Citadel Security to help me chase down Saren or rejoining Spectre training," Jane shot back.

"True," Liara agreed. "But I have faith that Garrus wouldn't choose this unless he really wanted it. Deep down, I think he does really want it, he just wishes it had come at a different time."

Jane gave a short laugh but said nothing else in response to Liara's mention of the timing.

"He's worried about you and the baby," Liara reminded Jane.

"I know," Jane nodded her agreement. "I wish he wouldn't worry so much, though."

Liara laughed at that.

"I don't think that's possible," She chuckled. "It's a well known fact that fathers-to-be always worry about their mates and their unborn children."

"Do you think Aethyta worried about you and Benezia?" Jane asked.

"I know for a fact that she did. My dad was worse than Garrus," Liara smiled.

"How can you be so sure?" Jane was skeptical.

"I'm the Shadow Broker, remember?" Liara smirked.

"That's your answer to everything," Jane smiled back.

Liara pushed herself up to standing and was reaching a hand down to help Jane up just as someone knocked at the front door.

"I'll get it," Liara offered as she helped Jane to her feet. "You just sit down and relax for a bit."

"Liara," Jane warned.

"What? Can't a friend suggest her best friend relax after such an emotionally grueling ordeal?" Liara asked as she held her hands up to ward off Jane's glare as she backed out of the office. "I swear this has nothing to do with you being pregnant."

Liara was smiling as she headed down the hall way and toward the front door. She felt victorious that she'd helped Jane to open up about London. Recovery would be a long road, but at least Jane had finally taken the first step. Plus, Liara now had a better understanding as to why Jane was so upset with Garrus' actions.

* * *

Alitus shifted his weight from one foot to the other while he waited for someone to answer his knock. Perhaps he should've called ahead and let them know he was on his way. Maybe a surprise visit wasn't such a good idea after all. He was about to pick up his bag and start walking back toward London when the door opened. A young asari stood in the doorway, her gaze traveled from the top of his fringe to the tips of his boots and then back again before her lips parted into a smile.

"Hello Ambassador Vakarian," she greeted him.

"Good day," his mandibles spread in a turian version of a smile. "I know this is rather sudden, but are my son and his mate home?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Liara gasped, stepping aside and ushering him in. "Come on in! I shouldn't have kept you standing on the porch. Sadly, Garrus is not home, but Jane is."

"One out of two isn't bad," Alitus joked as he stepped into their home.

He remembered when Garrus had shown him the house almost a year earlier. It had been run down, beaten by the war that had come so close to it. He hadn't thought that it would be ready for them to move into for quite a while.

"Jane is in the office," Liara supplied. "If you'd like, I'll take your bags and you can go visit with her. Garrus should be home soon."

"Thank you," Alitus said as he relinquished his duffle bag and carry-on before heading toward the hall way which he hoped would lead him to the office.

"Second door on the right," Liara called after him.

He turned to her, nodding his thanks for her directions before continuing on his way. He could hear her before he reached the office; the occasional sniffle followed by the honk of her blowing her nose. Her tears scented the air like a spring rain; fresh and sweet. What had caused her to cry? Perhaps it was something as simple as the pregnancy. He knocked against the door frame of the office doorway and waited for her to look up from the old picture frame she held in her hands.

"Oh!" Jane gasped, pushing the desk chair back so she could stand. She rounded the desk with a gasp, walking over to him and holding her hand out for a hand shake. "I didn't know you were coming, Alitus."

"I didn't know, either," he smiled, accepting her hand before pulling her close and leaning down to press his forehead to hers. "At least not until I spoke to Garrus this morning. I realized, while we were talking, that I hadn't seen either of you in almost a year, and I decided it was time to visit."

"It's wonderful to have you," Jane smiled, though it didn't quite make it to her eyes.

"Thank you, you're quite gracious," Alitus returned her smile. Though she couldn't hear them, his subharmonics hummed comforting tones in hopes to calm the tears that were still evident in her eyes.

"I don't mean to be insensitive," he spoke as he pulled away from their embrace. "But why are you crying?"

"Oh," Jane looked away, her fingers twisting together as she fidgeted. Alitus watched her as she turned away from him and walked back around the desk to where she'd set the picture frame. "It's nothing in particular. I was just reminiscing and my emotions got the better of me."

Even without subharmonics to give her away, Alitus knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. There was more that she wasn't telling him, though he wouldn't push her. He followed her to the desk and she turned the picture frame to show him the photo she had been admiring. What he saw almost sent him to his knees. Alitus gasped, his mandibles going slack as his subharmonics let out an uncontrolled scream. He knew the man in that picture. It may have been many years since he'd seen that face but he knew that man.

"Who is that?" Alitus asked on a whisper, tapping a talon against the glass protecting the old photograph.

"My parents," Jane explained. "And the baby is me."

"Your father?" Alitus gasped, putting a hand on the desk to steady himself as he grappled for a chair to sit down.

"Alitus, are you okay?" Jane asked putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Oh, that is a full question," he sighed, hoping he got the human idiom correct in his state.

"Full?...Oh, you mean a loaded question?" Jane clarified.

"Yes," Alitus sat back in his chair before beckoning for Jane to hand him the picture. "Would you like a story, Jane?"

"Will it explain why you look like you just saw a spirit?" Jane countered.

"I did just see a Spirit," Alitus said before tapping his talon against the glass again. "That man saved my life thirty one years ago."

"Thirty one years ago?" Jane gawked. "But that was…"

"Yes, that was during the occupation of Shanxi," Alitus explained. "His name is Jericho."

Jane gasped, her hand trembling as she covered her mouth with it. How could he know her father's name? She'd never told him. She barely ever talked about her father. He'd died when she was a baby, she didn't even remember him. Oh, sure, she knew what he looked like from pictures and she knew that she had his eyes and stubbornness because of the stories her mother told, but she had no memories of him.

"He was captured attempting to infiltrate our base during the Shanxi siege," Alitus continued, never taking his eyes off the picture. He ran the pad of one finger down the edge of the frame as he told his story. "He was interrogated, though he said nothing, and then he was thrown into a cell. I was his guard."

Jane stared as Alitus explained how her father had tried to befriend him.

"He had this picture in his pocket, it was of a small child," Alitus looked up from the frame then, his gaze catching hers. "It was you. He would spend hours staring at it, he explained that your birthday was only a few months away and how he hoped he'd be home in time to celebrate it with you."

Jane's chin wobbled, her lips trembling as she tried to control the newest wave of emotion flooding her.

"He never made it," she whispered.

"No," Alitus shook his head, looking back down at the picture. "I'm so sorry, Jane. It's my fault he never made it. He could've, he was free, but I got shot and he came back for me." Alitus could feel the volume of his subharmonics rising as he relived the memory. "I told him to run. I screamed at him to run. We were overrun by Batarian raiders; bastards couldn't resist the chance to catch us unprotected because of that stupid war—incident—I don't care what they title it now, it was a war then."

Jane pulled her chair closer to his, reaching over and wrapping her fingers around his talons; stopping them from worrying the fabric of his pants.

"Spirits," He looked away from her. "I haven't talked about this in years. The last time was when I gave my report. Oh sure, people have asked about the rumors, but I never recounted the whole story. When the alarms went off signaling the attack I released him. No one would notice him fleeing through the chaos. I told him how to get out and gave him my side arm. Solana is about your age. I couldn't bear the thought of her growing up without her father because of this stupid war. I wouldn't have the guilt of some other little girl growing up without hers on my conscious if I could do something about it. He was just barely out of the room when the Batarians came through the other door. I tried to hold them off, hoping he'd get out and make it back to the Alliance, but one of them got a lucky shot; nailed me in between the armor plates. I don't know what made him come back, maybe I shouted or somehow made it known that I was hurt. All I know is suddenly he was next to me tearing open pockets in my armor and attempting to apply medi gel and a bandage. He didn't even hear the Batarian that snuck up behind him and shot him."

Alitus stopped, looking up from the picture and into Jane's forest green eyes.

"You have his eyes," he sighed. "They were so green, almost unnaturally so."

"Unnatural for a turian," Jane countered before sniffling and reaching for the box of tissues that were still on the floor from earlier.

"I've seen many humans in my life," Alitus reminded her. "It seems quite unusual for them as well." He looked back at the picture he still held. "Though you have your mother's hair."

Jane chuckled as she nodded then grabbed a section of her hair. "Yes, this mop came from her."

"I think it's quite beautiful, and again, very unique. That color," Alitus admired her locks. "Unusual again."

"Red heads seem to be rare now, though that was not the case 100 years ago," Jane responded.

"Where is your mother? She's in uniform in this picture. Is she still serving?" Alitus asked, hoping to change the subject to one that was happier.

"No," Jane shook her head. "She died during the war."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Alitus vocalized what his subharmonics were already saying. "Do you know what happened?"

"She captained the Orizaba," Jane said knowing that anyone who'd been alive during the war knew what happened to the Orizaba. Her mother's tale was spoken like a legend. The way she captained the ship, fighting right to the very end when they rammed their disabled ship into the firing chamber of an attacking Reaper causing them both to explode. Jane's head snapped around to stare at Alitus as his subharmonics screamed loud enough even she could hear them.

"Hannah?" he gasped, staring down at the picture in his hands. "No! This can't be."

He shook his head, staring between Jane and the picture.

"Alitus?" Jane asked, concern overshadowing the pain she felt at her most recent familial loss.

"No!"

He shook his head in denial as he stared at the woman in the picture. Hannah had spoken of a daughter fighting in London, but who would've thought her daughter would be Commander Jane Shepard? She'd railed against being up there guarding the Crucible while her daughter was fighting for her life. Then she'd given her life and her ship to protect his ship and crew.

"Alitus?" Jane laid her hand on his forearm as she spoke his name again, suddenly much closer to him as she crouched next to his chair. "Are you alright?"

"Jane," He whispered. "It would seem I owe you much more than I can ever repay."

"I don't understand."

"You've lost both your parents because of me," he explained. "I captained the Tanilus during that fight. Your mother's last attack saved my ship and my crew. She is a hero. Her last wish was for me to tell her daughter that she was sorry and that she loves you."

* * *

Garrus paused outside their office door, stunned to see his father hunched over in his chair, his hands holding Jane's face as he pressed his forehead against hers. His father's subharmonics were vibrating loudly with grief and guilt as he vowed to protect Jane for the rest of his life. She would be one of his; he would be there for her as a parent was expected to be.

"Forgive me, Jane," his father asked. "I have stolen both your parents. I owe you a debt I cannot repay."

"You owe me nothing," she whispered back, her own hand coming up to gently stroke his father's mandible.

"It is a custom, an old one and mostly only enforced between turians," his father explained. "If a turian child lost his or her clan, or in this case parents, to another clan—be it in battle or for whatever reason—the surviving clan would raise that child as their own. You're grown and I know I do not need to raise you; however I still owe you this debt. Your parents died to protect me, neither knew what the other had done. Your father had every right to leave me to my fate thirty one years ago…"

"I'm very glad he didn't," Jane interrupted as her eyes cut over to Garrus'. "If he had, I never would've met Garrus."

Garrus' heart skipped a beat as their eyes met for the first time in three days. Was that a small smile tugging her lips up? He fought to catch his breath as hope clenched his chest that she may be willing to listen to him and give him a chance to explain his actions.

"…And your mother chose to sacrifice herself and her crew for me and mine," Alitus finished.

"She died a soldier," Jane reminded him.

"She died a hero," Alitus corrected. "Let me be here for you," he begged. "Accept this honor. Let my clan protect you."

"I accept only because you're so adamant," Jane sighed. Garrus watched as she pressed her forehead against his father's with more pressure, something he knew she did when she was trying to drill home what she was saying.

"But you still owe me nothing."


	13. Chapter 12.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a step back and meet the people who gave us Garrus and Jane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: So, my Jane is an adept, Spacer, Butcher of Torfan, Paragon. Her mom is still alive in Mass Effect 3 and at the final battle above Earth, Hannah Shepard is captaining the Orizaba along side the Tanilus, a turian dreadnought captained by Alitus Vakarian.
> 
> This little one shot is what happened up there, around the Catalyst, while Jane and Garrus were fighting their way across no mans land and through the deserted streets of London.

 

* * *

_Alitus watched as Earth burned, raging inside for the souls that were being lost with every moment that the Reapers were alive. But more than that, he worried for his son who was on the ground, fighting to rid first Earth and then the galaxy of the Reaper threat._

_"Oh!" The ensign gasped as he snapped to attention. He had been reading a data pad when he walked into the port observation deck and hadn't seen Alitus. "Captain."_

_"At ease, child," Alitus nodded to the saluting young Turian._

_"Yes, sir," The boy relaxed, but didn't move from his spot._

_"It's Palaven all over again," Alitus said as he gestured to the window._

_"I'm sorry, sir?" The boy asked, confused._

_"When the Reapers attacked our home I was reinstated. It was an honor, but it was also frustrating. They reinstated me as a Captain, gave me a dreadnaught, and sent me out into space," Alitus explained. "I watched from a ship as Palaven burned. I watched from this very window as Menae was overrun with Reaper forces."_

_"It's frustrating for all of us, sir," The ensign said, finally stepping up to the window next to Alitus._

_"No," Alitus sighed. "It's frustrating for you because you want to be down there. Your blood burns with the need to do something other than read a data pad and recalibrate a gun. You're young, that's what a good, young Turian wants—to fight and to do his duty."_

_Alitus paused and looked back out the window, raising his hand and pressing the palm against the pane._

_"I know my place is here. I am no longer young. But as I watched Menae be overrun I thought of my son, who I knew was down there, fighting. And I'm right back there, again. I'm in a ship, I'm watching a planet burn, and I know that my son is down there fighting."_

_"You should be proud," The ensign said as he turned to face Alitus._

_"You aren't a father, you don't understand," Alitus sighed again, his mandibles fluttering. "I am proud. I am so damn proud. But I'm scared. Will I see him again? Will I get the chance to fight with him again? Will I get to see him fall in love, get mated, start a family? The pride I feel is overshadowed by the fear of losing him. What is pride when I'm burying my child?"_

_"Permission to speak freely, sir?"_

_"Permission granted, Ensign Thratic," Alitus waved his hand._

_"Don't hire the mourners yet, sir. We're going to win this," The ensign reached out, laying a hand on Alitus' arm. "Have a little faith in Shepard. I know she's human, but she's done great things."_

_Captain Vakarian? A voice spoke over the intercom, cutting Alitus off before he could respond to Ensign Thratic._

_"Yes?" He answered._

_There's a call coming in for you, it's from the Orizaba._

_"I am on my way, thank you."_

_Alitus patted the Ensign's hand where it was still grasping his forearm before he exited Port Observation. He headed to the communications room to take the call from the Orizaba. The Tanilus, his ship, and the Orizaba, a human dreadnaught, were assigned to protect the Crucible as it traveled to Earth and then once there, they were to continue to protect it until it was able to be connected with the Catalyst._

_"Orizaba? This is the Captain of the Tanilus, what can I do for you?" Alitus asked as he slipped a headset on. With the earpiece and mic he would be able to keep the call fairly private. If the Orizaba was delivering bad news he didn't want everyone to hear it._

_"Well, for starters, you can keep me company," A female voice said through the earpiece. "I'm the only experienced soldier on a cruiser full of kids and I'm going crazy!"_

_Alitus couldn't stop the chuckle that rumbled through his chest at that._

_"Don't they have duties to keep them busy? We are in the middle of a war," Alitus replied._

_"They've done their duties, twice. And while there is a war going on and a battle blazing, we aren't involved in it," The voice reminded him. "We're on guard duty, remember?"_

_"It is quite disconcerting to watch a planet burn and not be taking any actions to stop it," Alitus agreed. "My own crew is going—how do you humans say it? Stir crazy?"_

_"You got it, Captain…?" The woman stopped and he realized she didn't know his name._

_"Just call me Alitus," He introduced himself. "I'm tired of ranks and procedures. If this all goes sideways no one will know or care about a little insubordination, and if we're successful no one is going to worry that we didn't use our titles."_

_"Very true, Alitus. I'm Hannah," Hannah introduced herself._

_"Hannah," Alitus said her name, liking how soft the syllables felt as they rolled off his tongue. "A beautiful name."_

_"Why thank you."_

_Alitus felt his mandibles flare into a smile as a warm laugh filled his ear. He walked over to an empty chair and sat, reclining back as he listened to the quiet from the other end of the call. It wasn't strained, just companionable silence._

_"So," Hannah started. "I know this call was totally unnecessary.."_

_"On the contrary," Alitus cut her off, still smiling. "I think it's very necessary to be acquainted with those that one is to work with."_

_"An excellent point," Hannah laughed again. "Though it is still unprecedented—as you've pointed out, we're in the middle of a war and I'm making a social call."_

_They phased back into silence as Alitus skimmed the data pad an engineer handed him. He placed his hand over the microphone of his headset before complimenting the engineer on her work and sending her on her way._

_"I'm very sorry for that," He apologized once the engineer had exited the comm room. "One of my engineers came by."_

_"It's no problem; I'm just sitting here doing paperwork. Don't know why, if we lose, it isn't going to matter that I didn't sign a requisition order for toilet paper."_

_"You are doing it because it is something to keep your mind off of the fighting going on below us."_

_"And around us," Hannah added. "But mostly, below us."_

_She sighed heavily and Alitus heard a crash._

_"I just can't take it!" Hannah's voice exploded in his ear and he jumped in his chair. "She's down there and I'm up here! I'm sitting on my laurels while my baby girl is down there fighting for her life. I should be doing something!" Another crashing noise. "Something other than filling out reports and duty rosters and guarding a god damned…GAH! We don't even know what the hell we're guarding."_

_"A tool to end the Reapers," Alitus supplied._

_"Is it?" Hannah asked. "Because as far as I understand there isn't a soul in this galaxy that knows what the hell it is or what it does. We built it from blueprints left for us by a race that was wiped out by the very same things we're fighting. If it didn't work for them…"_

_"They didn't get to finish it," Alitus reminded Hannah._

_"So we assume," Hannah shot back._

_"Hannah," Alitus started. "This is going to work. We have to believe that."_

_"I know," Hannah sighed. Alitus wasn't very good with human behavior, but there were some things that translated across species, and that sigh was one of them. That was a defeated sound, the sound of someone giving in to the frustration and the grief; of someone who was tired of fighting._

_"But it's so hard to believe it when I'm looking down on my home and watching it burn."_

_"I understand," Alitus said. "My son was on Menae,"_

_"Oh, God!" Hannah gasped._

_"I watched from space as Menae was overrun and I thought of him," Alitus continued. "I didn't know if he'd made it off the moon or if he was still there when I was ordered to leave Palaven and join with the fleet massing around the Crucible."_

_"Alitus," Her voice was pinched with grief. "I'm so sorry."_

_"And now, he's down on Earth, fighting for his life again. He's fighting for every life in this Spirits forsaken galaxy."_

_This revelation was met with a relieved sigh._

_"I wish we could be down there with them," Hannah said._

_"We are where we need to be," Alitus responded, trying hard to hide the grief in his own voice. "Ground battles are for the young. We did our time, we fought our fights. Now it's their turn, and we must sit up here and watch and worry."_

_"Wise words," Hannah chuckled. "But it still sucks."_

_"Never said it didn't," Alitus shot back. "But at least I have pleasant company."_

_"Very true," Hannah agreed._

_"Pleasant, that is, until you humans go off half cocked," Alitus teased._

_"Oh! You did not…"_

_Their connection was severed as the lights in the ship dimmed; the emergency lighting coated everything in an eerie red glow. Shoving his chair back, Alitus ran for the command deck._

_"Status report," He snarled as he stepped onto the deck._

_"The Reapers have cut through the front lines; they're converging on our position. Two dreadnaughts inbound," Ensign Thratic answered._

_"Move us into a defensive position," Alitus ordered. "Keep us between them and the Crucible."_

_A chorus of "Aye, Sir!" answered him as he felt the ships thrusters engage and the ship began to move._

_What felt like a century later, the battle was finally coming to an end. There was only one Reaper left near them, but it was proving to be difficult for their bruised and battered ships._

_Alitus held on to the railing as the Tanilus jerked and rocked. They'd taken a glancing blow from the dreadnaughts gun._

_"Dammit!" Alitus growled. "Kill that thing! I want it out of my sky!"_

_"Captain," His pilot called out. "You need to see this."_

_Alitus released the railing, steadying himself as the ship rocked again, then jogged to join his pilot in the cockpit. At first he didn't understand what had the pilot so spooked._

_"What is it?" He asked._

_"Look," The pilot pointed toward a viewport and Alitus stepped around an overturned chair so he could get a better look._

_"Oh, Spirits!" He gasped. "Get me a comm link to the Orizaba!"_

_He couldn't take his eyes off the scene in front of him. The Orizaba was in flames, part of the hull torn away, and she was heading straight toward the Reaper that was closing in on the Tanilus._

_"Alitus?" He heard Hannah in his ear, the connection to the Orizaba having been made._

_"What in Spirits name are you doing, Hannah!" Alitus shouted._

_"The only thing I can do," She answered._

_"You're on a collision course! Get to the life pods!"_

_"Can't," Hannah gasped, coughing. "The last shot disabled them. We're dead, Alitus."_

_"No! Get to your fighters; something, just get off the ship!"_

_"Can't," Hannah said again. She coughed harder this time. "Life support's gone, gravity is gone, our shields are lost, and we don't even have enough power to fire the Thanix."_

_There was a pause in the conversation and he heard Hannah talking to one of her crew._

_"I want ramming speed, Ensign Monroe! If we're going down we're taking that fucking thing with us!" She ordered._

_"Aye, aye, ma'am." Alitus heard the Ensign reply._

_"And ma'am," It was the same Ensign. "It was an honor."_

_"The honor was all mine, Kyle," Hannah responded._

_"Alitus, you still there?" She was back to him now._

_"Yes," His voice was lower, gravelly with grief._

_"Tell her I love her," Hannah whispered. "Tell her I'm sorry."_

_"No! Don't give up!" He barked. "We can get you out of there. Maybe an EVA suit? It's not ideal but if you can get off the ship, we can get you onto the Tanilus."_

_"No time," Hannah said. "And anyway, we don't have enough for every crew member. Can you take in my fighters when this is over?"_

_Alitus was watching as the Orizaba's thrusters fired again, the ship picking up speed as it closed in on the Reaper._

_"Of course," He answered, numbly._

_"I'm going to have to cut this short," Hannah gasped again. "There's not a lot of oxygen left and talking uses it up fast. I've never felt so light headed."_

_"Hannah," Alitus begged. "Don't do this! You still have time, divert and we'll save you."_

_"It was an honor, Alitus, I wish I could've met you," Hannah whispered in his ear. "Good bye, my friend."_

_"NO!" Alitus screamed as he watched the Orizaba collide with the Reaper just as it was prepping to fire again. The explosion of the Orizaba as it hit this vulnerable point caused both ships to blow apart, killing the Reaper._

"NOOOO!" Alitus woke up in his bed, shooting straight to a sitting position as he screamed. He was gasping for air as he came back to reality.

"Dammit," He whispered, punching his fist against the bed when he realized it was just a dream.

"I'm so sorry, Hannah," He spoke into the darkness as he laid back. "I never found her."


	14. Chapter 13

Garrus ran the pad of his thumb over the door frame, feeling the snag of rough wood against the fine plates covering the digit.  _I really need to sand this_ , he thought to himself as he continued to play with the rough patch. In truth, what he really needed to do was not be standing here, listening to his father and mate. If they'd wanted to have a public conversation, wouldn't this have taken place in the living room? They were in the office, away from prying eyes, for a reason.

_So why am I still standing here_? he thought, but already knew the answer.

He was starved for Jane and more than willing to spy; peeping around door frames if it meant he'd have a chance of seeing her smile. Jane's laughter pulled him out of his thoughts and he leaned around the door frame in an attempt to learn what had made her so happy. Jane was up off the floor and sitting in the chair next to his father now. She had her omni-tool open and was flipping through pictures. Squinting, Garrus tried to make out the images on the screen without using his visor.

"Oh, Spirits," Alitus leaned back in his chair, his hand over his chest as he laughed. "I forgot about that! He was determined to climb that tree."

"Did he ever make it?" Jane asked.

_Who are they talking about?_  he thought as he used his visor to zoom in on the image.  _Who does my father know that was determined to climb a tree?_

Garrus' mandibles flared as his visor finished enhancing the grainy omni-tool image. He stared at the younger version of himself straddling the branch of a tree. Where had Jane gotten that picture?

"Of course," Alitus answered after his chortling died down. "He was almost to the top when a branch gave out and he came crashing down. Spirits! He knocked himself out cold for twenty minutes and broke his left arm. I think he still has the scar from where the bone came through his hide."

"That's what that scar is from?" Jane's eyes were large as she stared at his father.

"What did he tell you?" Alitus asked, leaning closer as though they were sharing a secret. Which they were, weren't they?

"He wouldn't tell me anything. Said it was just an old scar and he couldn't remember where he got it." Jane leaned in toward his father as she spoke. "Was he embarrassed by it?"

His father shook his head no as he straightened in his chair. "He wore that cast like it was a badge of honor."

"So like Garrus," Jane smiled, her eyes going soft. "He wore his busted up armor from the accident for months. I had to sneak into the battery and steal it while he was sleeping just to get him to wear the new set I'd purchased for him."

Garrus gasped quietly, glaring at the back of Jane's head as she confessed to stealing his armor. She'd claimed she hadn't touched it and when it had shown up in the armory, he automatically assumed Jacob had stolen it. Why hadn't Jacob set him straight?

"I had to pay off my armory officer to get him to go along with me on that ruse. He said Garrus threatened him for stealing the armor," she continued. "Scared the poor man half to death."

He'd been scared? Well, maybe Garrus had been a bit intimidating. He'd never thought about how frightening six and a half feet of angry turian snarling in one's face could be. But that armor had been a gift from his father.

"You're talking about that accident on Omega?" Alitus asked, stopping Jane in the middle of her memories.

She nodded, "Yes. He never did tell me why that armor meant so much to him."

"His mother and I bought him that armor right after your victory over Saren," Alitus supplied.

"Oh," Jane sighed. "That makes a lot of sense."

It was one of the few times when Garrus could remember his father being openly proud of him. Alitus had criticized Jane; had criticized Garrus' choice to leave Citadel Security to run around the galaxy with a SpecTRe. Yet, when they'd arrived at the Citadel in the nick of time and rescued everyone from Saren and the geth, Alitus had been proud. It was one of the proudest moments in Garrus' life, too. Looking back, most of the moments in his life he was the most proud of happened with Jane—defeating Saren, surviving the Omega 4 Relay and destroying the Collector base, defeating the Reapers, and, of course, mating the strongest woman he'd ever met from any species.

A wry smile sent his mandible flaring slightly as he stared past his father and Jane and fixed his gaze on the picture on the wall. He was wearing that blasted tuxedo again and Jane was in a white, strapless wedding gown. Her hair was down and flying everywhere in the breeze. The picture had been an out take from their wedding day; the photographer snapped it just as he reached over to help her re-situate her veil. Looking at the photo, he could remember exactly what she'd said to him as he'd handled the delicate lace, trying to smooth it down over her curls.

_"Strong enough to kill a cannibal bare handed, but delicate enough to handle 100 year old lace," she'd teased before pulling his hand to her lips to nip at the sensitive pads of his fingers._

_"I'm a man of many talents," he'd murmured back before leaning in to kiss her._

Spirits, how had he ended up with this woman? What had he done to deserve her love and devotion? And what sort of an idiot was he to squander that over something as small as his own apprehension?

It was the quiet that pulled him out of his day dreaming. Looking to Jane and his father, his gaze was met by two curious stares; one emerald green and the other ice blue like his own. He took a moment to assess the situation. Did they know how long he'd been standing there? Had they just found him out? Jane broke the silence, speaking first as she pushed herself up from her chair.

"I didn't know you were back."

"Have been for about half an hour now," Garrus said with a shrug.

"Oh," Jane spoke quietly. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her hands fidgeting at her sides for a moment before her right hand settled on her stomach, rubbing the bulge there. She cleared her throat delicately before turning to his father.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I am going to go lay down for a nap before dinner," she explained. "The baby hasn't been letting me sleep well the past few nights." She turned to Garrus as she spoke, shooting him a pointed look before continuing, "I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on."

"Of course," Alitus nodded, his mandibles flared in a smile. "You need all the rest you can get before that baby arrives. Enjoy your nap."

* * *

They stood side by side as they watched Jane slowly make her way toward the master bedroom.

"Turians don't waddle like that," Alitus spoke quietly to Garrus, his subharmonics ringing with humor as they watched her.

"It's adorable," Garrus said just as quietly. His own subharmonics vibrated quietly, laced with love and regret.

Alitus watched Garrus out of the corner of his eye as the bedroom door closed behind Jane. His shoulders slumped as the quiet click of the door latch sliding into place rang through the hallway. Alitus realized just how stiffly Garrus had been holding himself in that moment. There was no doubt about it, they needed to talk.

"Come on."

Alitus walked down the hallway assuming Garrus would follow him. His bags were set next to the couch in the living room and he picked up the smaller leather case that he'd kept close to him the whole trip from the Citadel.

Garrus paused, watching his father; contemplating Jane's words. Did he really want to be subjected to this conversation? Especially considering what had been going on for the past few days? His inner battle continued until he heard his father's impatient subharmonic click reminiscent from his long gone childhood. Some things didn't change. He blinked blankly in return.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Garrus huffed walking down the hallway toward his father.

" Where do you want to go?"

"Go?"

"So we can talk," Alitus explained slowly. "Is there some place we can get a few drinks?"

"I don't think going out would be a good idea," Garrus said. "But if you want to have a few drinks and talk, I've got some dextro-safe stuff in my workshop."

"Why would it be a bad idea to go out?" Alitus asked as he followed Garrus down into the basement.

Garrus led the way to his workshop. He had his personal guns, the ones that had seen him through everything, from Saren to the Collector base and all the way through the war displayed in this room. There was a Krysae on the wall, the gun Jane had bought him soon after he joined her on the Normandy when the war started. Under that was the Widow she'd picked up on the Collector ship—that gun kicked hard enough to make even his shoulder sore, but the pain was worth it for the amount of damage it could cause. Laid out on his work table in pieces was his Mantis, the gun his father had taught him to shoot with; the gun he'd watched Jane's back with years earlier, before he fully realized why keeping her safe was so important to him.

He gestured for his father to take a seat on the stool in front of the work bench as he retrieved the bottle of turian brandy and two glasses that he kept on the shelf next to his C-sec issue Paladin. Everywhere he looked in this room there were memories of his time aboard the Normandy with Jane. The guns hanging on the walls, the pistols on the shelves, the medals and commendations nestled in their velvet lined cases that were tossed in the bottom drawer of his small desk. He handed a glass of brandy to his father before taking a seat at his desk.

"You didn't answer my question," Alitus reminded him as he held his glass. "Why is it a bad idea to go out?"

"I thought you knew," Garrus shrugged. "I assumed Admiral Hackett told you and that's why you're here."

Alitus shook his head. "I'm here because of a conversation I had this morning. During this conversation, I realized that I hadn't seen you or Jane in a long time; perhaps too long."

Garrus' brow plates lowered over his eyes as he squinted at his father, trying to understand him.

"What's really going on around here, Garrus?" Alitus asked instead of waiting for Garrus to say something.

If he had waited, Garrus would have told him there was no reason for him visit. That he'd over reacted after their conversation, but Alitus knew that wasn't the truth. Garrus sat across from his father, staring at the older man; he let out a quiet trill of confusion, asking his father to explain.

"Is it quieter down here at night?" Alitus asked instead, his own subharmonics vibrating with concern as his gaze landed on the neatly made cot pushed against the wall across from Garrus' desk.

Garrus leaned forward, forearms propped against his knees; the glass of brandy dangling from his talons as his head fell forward. Of course his father would notice the cot. Why hadn't he put it away this morning? The last two mornings he had meticulously rolled the canvas and folded up the frame before storing everything in the closet under the stairs. Every morning but this morning; this morning he'd given in to the fact that he probably wouldn't be sleeping in his own bed so instead of taking time to put the cot away he'd simply made it up neatly and went about the rest of the day.

Not looking up from his drink; afraid to meet his father's pitying gaze, Garrus asked, "So you're here to tell me what I did wrong? Are you going to fix this for me too?"

"What did you do that got you banished to the basement?" Humor rang in Alitus' subharmonics as he continued as though Garrus hadn't spoken.

Garrus shrugged, but couldn't clamp down on his subharmonics before they gave his shame away. Shame that was quickly colored with embarrassment; there was no way his father didn't hear him.

"You shrug as though you don't know but your subharmonics are screaming with shame and embarrassment," Alitus pointed out.

He dragged his stool across the floor until he was seated in front of Garrus. Garrus sat quietly, ashamed of his actions from days earlier, and embarrassed that his father knew something was wrong simply by talking to him over a vid-call.

"Garrus?" Alitus spoke his name, his subharmonics pleading. "Look up, son."

A small part of him that he didn't realize still existed wanted to shake his head 'no'. In an instant he was transported from the workshop in his basement to his father's office in their home on Palaven. His father's stern gaze bored into the back of his skull as he stared down at his boots, waiting for his father to dole out what would undoubtedly be a horrible punishment. He was there again, thirty eight years old and sitting in his own basement waiting for his father to pass down his punishment for lying to his mate and treating her like an invalid. For the first time in his life Garrus welcomed this judgment; perhaps he could do his penance and then Jane would listen to him. Maybe then he could explain himself.

_And what would you say to her? an inner voice asked him. How would you explain to her what you don't understand yourself?_

"Garrus!" His father barked, causing him to sit up straight in his chair.

His chin was up, his shoulder's back and he found a spot just over his father's left shoulder to stare at as he held himself rigid. Here it came. Finally, his father would tell him what he had to do to fix this. What he wasn't expecting was his father's defeated sigh, his shoulders slumping as he looked down at his own glass of brandy.

"Would you stop that?" Alitus gritted out, frustration ringing in his subharmonics.

Garrus cocked his head, confused as he stared at his father.

"Stop what?"

"Acting like I'm going to reprimand you," Alitus sighed. "You're acting like you've done something wrong."

"I'm sorry…" Garrus spoke slowly, his confusion growing. He wasn't used to his father treating him like this.

"It's a simple question, Garrus,"Alitus said. "Why are you sleeping in the basement?"

"Because Jane locked me out of our bedroom."

"Why did Jane lock you out of your bedroom?" Alitus continued to question.

"We had a fight," Garrus supplied.

* * *

_We had a fight,_ Alitus repeated in his own head. He stared at Garrus, frustrated at his son's inability to talk to him. When would Garrus open up to him? What did he have to do to get his youngest child to talk to him?

"What did you fight about?" Alitus asked, attempting to mask the frustration rising in his subharmonics.

Garrus sighed, his shoulders finally relaxing. There, Alitus thought, maybe they'd get somewhere now. If he knew Garrus, and he liked to think that he understood how his children thought, he was sure that Garrus was picking his words carefully. He would tell Alitus only what was necessary to answer the question. The fact that he had to think, though, meant there was much more to the story than he planned to tell. Alitus took this time to retrieve the leather case he'd carried down with him. He held it in his hands, caressing the soft leather as he carried it back to Garrus and set it on the desktop.

"What's this?" Garrus asked, his train of thought completely interrupted by the leather package sitting in front of him.

Alitus gestured toward the package with a jerk of his chin. "Open it."

He watched anxiously as Garrus opened the clasps that held the lid of the case closed. Would Garrus remember what was inside the case? Would it mean as much to Garrus as the memories they'd made together with it meant to him? Garrus lifted the lid and Alitus smiled as he watched his son's mandibles flare wide in surprise. He answered Garrus' subharmonic shout of excitement with a quieter version of his own.

"Is this…" Garrus began to ask as he picked up one of the small playing pieces and brought it out of the case. He tipped it over so he could read the base of the piece.

Alitus grinned because he knew what Garrus was looking for. On the bottom of every piece in the set, Garrus had carved his initials in Cipritine to make sure they could never be stolen. He was so territorial about anything he felt was his.

"It is!" he exclaimed his eyes wide as he turned to Alitus. "How did you keep it safe?"

"When we received your mother's diagnosis of Corpalis, she went home and began to gather up small momentos from yours and Solana's childhoods. She had them all packaged and told me to put them somewhere safe; she wanted me to give them to both of you when you two became parents," Alitus explained.

He tried to lock down his subharmonics; tried to stop the grief from coming through as he talked about watching Mialyn dig through boxes of old toys and clothing to set aside the things she felt were important.

"For a long time I kept them in a fire safe trunk in our house on Palaven, but when you came home talking about Reapers and this imminent war, I decided to move them to the Citadel. I wanted them to be safe. I procured a safe box from Barla Von and had these items set inside it."

Alitus pulled the pieces of the playing board from the case and began to assemble it. He slid the supports into their small slots, propping one level after another up just the way he'd done when Garrus was young. While he worked, Garrus took the pieces out of the case and set them aside before clearing a space on the desk for the board to sit.

"I thought now was a good time to give you this. You have a son on the way," Alitus spoke quietly as he put the last support into place and snapped the levels together. "You're going to need to brush up on your skills before he gets old enough to defeat you."

"I think I have a few years before that becomes a problem," Garrus bantered with his father as he laid out his pawns. "That's assuming he even takes to this game."

"That's true," Alitus nodded as he set his final piece on the board. "He may not like the game. That was a fear of mine when you were young. You were so interested in other things that I was afraid you wouldn't take to a strategy game like Fleet Commander."

"He may not be able to comprehend it," Garrus added.

Alitus' subharmonics trilled with shocked confusion, "Why wouldn't he?"

"He's human."

"So?"

"It's a turian game." Garrus' subharmonics growled out a note of frustration with having to explain himself.

Alitus kept his gaze level with Garrus', refusing to look away while he waited for his son to elaborate. This was the second time Garrus brought up the child being fully human. Alitus could remember when Garrus told him about their decision to try artificial insemination and that they were going to have a fully human child; he'd asked if Garrus would be alright with that. Garrus had been adamant that it didn't matter what the child was, he would love him or her unconditionally.

Alitus picked up one of his pawns and slid it slowly across the board, placing his piece directly in front of Garrus' in a bold maneuver. Garrus made a move of his own, not even acknowledging Alitus' pawn which was in a position to overtake one of Garrus'. When Garrus' talons released his piece, Alitus picked up his first pawn and moved it again, capturing three of Garrus' pawns in one move.

"Looks like I'll be the one to teach my grandson to play this," Alitus taunted as he set the captured pieces aside.

"Why are you so obsessed with him playing Fleet Commander?" Garrus growled as he moved another piece, leaving the pawn bearing his flag completely undefended.

"Because he's a Vakarian," Alitus clamped down on his own subharmonics to stop himself for responding to Garrus' harsh growl.

"No, he isn't." Garrus snapped, his talons clenching around the carved piece in his hand.

He replaced the piece he'd just picked up, but was cognizant enough not to remove his talon from it. After a moment of deliberation, he tipped the piece on its side and surrendered to Alitus. He pushed away from the desk, pacing across the work room while Alitus stared down at the game board. Garrus had surrendered. He never surrendered. Alitus reached for the pawn that Garrus had tipped over, rolling it in his hand as he watched his son pace. Garrus stopped in front of his cot, his back still turned to Alitus.

"Do you know what they're saying?" he asked.

"Saying about what?" Alitus asked.

"Everyone is speculating about the baby. We never made it public that we used artificial insemination. We figured it was no body's business but our own, but now…" Garrus sighed and turned around to flop down on the cot. He put his forearms on his thighs and leaned forward so he was staring at the ground. "Now I wish we had."

"What does it matter?" Alitus asked. "Your child is healthy and he's loved. Why does it matter what other people are thinking?"

Garrus looked up at his father, anger and sadness warring in his eyes. "They're calling him a monster, dad. They're attacking him already and he hasn't even been born."

"Do you regret the decision to have a child with Jane?"

"What?" Garrus gasped. "No!"

"Then why are you letting it bother you? You know he isn't a monster, and they'll know it as well when he's born."

"Will they? Or will they continue to attack us?" Garrus asked. He raised a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing at the tension there. "When I leave for Palaven, which I will have to do eventually, will I be leaving my family in danger?"

"Your family will always be protected," Alitus reassured Garrus. "It is every turian's duty to protect the Primarch and his family."

"It's turians that have been attacking my family," Garrus growled in frustration. "We're armed in our own home because they've attacked us here. I have people milling about, interrupting my life, because of death threats that are no longer harmless and empty."

Alitus' chest clenched, his stomach churning as he tried to process what Garrus was telling him. He thought they were safe on Earth, but they weren't. Death threats? Attacks in their own home? No wonder Garrus had suggested staying here instead of going out when he'd wanted to go get a drink. When he'd boarded the shuttle this morning he'd never expected to be sitting in his son's basement hearing about attacks on their home. He'd been prepared to settle nerves about Garrus' impending fatherhood but what could he say when the fear was much more than whether Garrus would drop the baby?

"And I have Callus demanding I return to Palaven to swear my Oath," Garrus continued before Alitus had a chance to fully process everything. "I'm afraid to go to the market and leave Jane alone. I'm afraid to leave without telling her how much I love her because I may not come back and he wants me to leave the planet! I can barely handle leaving our home!"

Alitus winced when Garrus finally let go of his sub harmonics. Everything he'd been bottling up and trying to hide was now in the open and it was almost too much for Alitus, but it was also a comfort. It had been Garrus' silence that had prompted his impromptu visit to their home; he'd come for just this reason. He wanted to get his son to open up, to talk to him.

"I don't know what to do dad?" Garrus continued. "Jane is angry at me. She thinks I'm accepting the Primacy against my own wants and I don't know how to explain to her that I do want this."

Garrus stood up and walked toward the work bench where his Mantis was disassembled. He stood there staring at the guns on the wall for long moments before he spoke again. "I guess none of this will matter in a few weeks. If I don't go to Palaven I'll lose this position. Then it won't matter if I was taking it because I felt obligated or because I wanted it."

Alitus finally spoke up, quietly asking, "Do you want it, Garrus?"

Garrus turned toward his father, gawking. "Yes! Of course I want this. It's a great honor and I'd be a fool to turn down such a promotion."

"So you want to do this because it's a great honor and you don't want to look like a fool," Alitus repeated.

"No!" Garrus snapped. "I want this because I want to help our people. The galaxy is changing. We need a leader who's not afraid of that change and able to work with the other races."

"And you think that you are able to be that person?" Alitus asked.

Garrus stood up taller as he met his father's gaze. This wasn't the stiff stance of a man trying to hold it together like Alitus had seen when Jane was around; this was a man who'd stared Death in the face and spit in its eye. Standing in front of him, Garrus was no longer the little boy who'd climbed too high and fallen from the tree. He was a man who'd earned his title, who'd been the Primarch's advisor through the war and who had made some of the toughest decisions a man could ever have to make.

"I  _know_  I can be that person," Garrus answered confidently. "I am not suffering from delusions of grandeur. I expect that I will make mistakes, but I am willing to try and I want to lead our people. We have a chance to be a part of the changes in this galaxy, but only if we let go of the ties that bind us to the past."

Alitus pushed away from the desk and stood in front of Garrus. He set his hands on Garrus' shoulders, looking him in the eye as he spoke. "Then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You will be the Primarch. I won't fill your head with platitudes about how wonderful a job you'll do because no one knows what you'll face once you've been sworn in, but I believe that you will do your best. That is all anyone can ask of you."

Garrus shrugged Alitus' hands from his shoulders as he sighed and moved away. The confidence he'd exuded a moment earlier left him along with the air in his lungs. "But I can't leave Jane right now, dad. What sort of leader am I if I refuse to be there for my people simply because my mate is pregnant?"

"You are more than just your title," Alitus spoke quietly from behind Garrus. "You are not just the Primarch, you're also Jane's mate and you have responsibilities to her and to your family. Our people understand this. She cannot go to Palaven right now, but there is no law that says the Oath must be made on Palaven."

"What?" Garrus turned around suddenly, his mandibles slack as he stared in shock. "What are you saying?"

"The laws state that you must swear your Oath in front of the Hierarchy," Alitus explained. "But they do not explicitly say that this must happen on Palaven. Victus gave his Oath on the  _Decorus_ , the destroyer that housed the Hierarchy during the war."

Garrus' mandibles fluttered as his sub harmonics trilled with hope and excitement.

"So I don't have to go to Palaven," Garrus repeated. "I just need to be somewhere with the whole Hierarchy."

"And I'm sure, considering your mate's delicate situation, that they could be persuaded to meet you somewhere," Alitus grinned, his eyes shining with the birth of an idea. "Maybe even London."

"No," Garrus shook his head, a decidedly human trait that most of the galaxy seemed to have adopted. "Earth is the human home world; there is already tension because I'm mated to a human. As Jane would say, there is no need to add fuel to that fire."

Alitus agreed with Garrus, London was a nice thought and even if the Hierarchy agreed to travel to Earth, there would be many who disagreed with Garrus swearing his Oath on the human planet. They needed neutral ground.

Garrus interrupted Alitus' thoughts to ask, "What about the Citadel? It's only an eight hour shuttle trip from Earth. Jane can make that trip and Huerta is right there so she and the baby are safe if anything happens."

"You'd have to ask Callus if he can get the Hierarchy there before your time limit elapses, but I don't see a problem with it."

"If they want me to swear this Oath," Garrus said determination clear in the tension in his body and how tightly he held his mandibles to his cheeks. "They'll be there."

Alitus chuckled at his son's confidence and thought back on a time when he'd thought this confidence was just cockiness. He remembered the calls from Executor Pallin; the man had been shredding his own fringe trying to handle Garrus' cocksure attitude and unproven confidence. Those conversations had prompted him to call Garrus asking him to tone it down, to be less confrontational and to show the older detectives that his confidence wasn't unfounded. Garrus had taken it as criticism and fought the system even harder.

Garrus raised a brow plate at Alitus who was standing there staring at him and smirking. In response, Alitus nodded toward the cot.

"So, have we solved the problems you and Jane were fighting about? Do you think we've bought you entry back to your own bed?"

Garrus' face fell, his shoulders slumping and his mandibles sliding into a tight grimace on his cheeks.

"I don't think you can help with that," he said after a long moment and fell back down onto the cot.

"I really screwed up," he confessed, slamming his fist against his thigh in frustration as he stared at the ground in front of his boots.

"I lied to Jane," he elaborated quietly, "and then I compounded the lie with another. And then another."

Alitus took his seat at the desk again and stared at his son; in a flash he'd gone from confident soon-to-be Primarch to desolate, beaten man.

"Why?"

Garrus shrugged halfheartedly at his father's question. He knew why but he couldn't bear to say it out loud. Confessing that he had was hard enough. Alitus gave a sharp trill implying that Garrus was a coward and demanding that he face his problems like the turian he claimed to be. Garrus' head snapped up, his eyes spitting fire and his sub harmonics vibrating with indignation at the insult.

"I'm  _not_  a coward!" Garrus gritted out.

"You confessed to being a liar," Alitus challenged. "Why does being a coward upset you but lying doesn't? Where's your honor now?"

"You wouldn't understand," Garrus spat. "You never understand."

"Make me, then," Alitus demanded. "Explain yourself!"

* * *

Garrus recoiled at his father's words. It wasn't that they were shocking or even unexpected, but they sent him back to that argument in his drive way. He and Jane squared off as he told her she wouldn't understand.

_"You won't understand. You wouldn't have then, that's why I didn't tell you."_  He'd all but shouted at her and she'd come back with a challenge.

_"Try me."_

_"It's my father, okay?"_  he'd said. He'd been frustrated; flustered by her nuclear reaction to something he didn't think was a big deal. He'd been unable to think straight and he didn't have answers for the questions she was asking so he'd fallen back on his tried and true excuse—his father.

_"I don't buy it, Garrus."_

She'd had no reason to buy it. He'd hoped that she would accept his excuse and move on, buying him time to come up with a better explanation. He should've known she wouldn't. When had she ever let him get away with a half-assed answer? Half a truth was as bad as a blatant lie and now he wasn't sure if what he'd said had any truth to it at all.

Jerking himself out of the memory of his fight with Jane, Garrus stared at his father. His momentary rage at being called a coward dissipated in the face of everything that had happened in the past few days. There was a question he needed answered, though, before he could even begin to try to explain what had happened. He needed to know if his original assumption that his father would be ashamed if he didn't take the primacy was true. Would he be an outcast to his family if he didn't step into this role?

"Would you think less of me," Garrus began but had to stop when his throat began to ache. The fear of his father's rejection clamped around his vocal chords, choking them.

His father's brow plates rose, confusion ringing in his sub harmonics.

"If I declined the Primacy," Garrus began again and again had to stop to clear his throat. Spirits! Why couldn't he just ask this and get it over with.

Taking a deep breath he steeled himself and forced the words out.

"Would you think less of me if I declined the Primacy? Would you be ashamed?"

"Would I think less of you if you declined the Primacy?" Alitus stammered, his brow plates pressed so high they almost met his fringe. He was openly gawking at Garrus, his mandibles flared as far as they would go as his mouth opened and closed. He was trying to put words together, but all that came out were stuttered sounds and stammered grunts.

"Ashamed?" his father finally forced through his shock.

"Think  _less_  of you?" he stammered again.

"Where have I gone wrong?" he asked as he covered his face with his hands. "Why would you  _ever_ think that I would be ashamed of you?" He spoke through his hands, "Oh, Spirits!"

Garrus watched in horror as his father broke down in front of him. He stared openly as his father's body folded forward until his arms rested against his legs, holding his head up as he shook. It was long, awkward moments before the older turian finally met his son's confused gaze.

"I knew there was a rift between us; I just never realized how large it was." Alitus began. "You were always fighting me. If I said you couldn't do something, you saw it as a challenge; you pushed yourself to prove me wrong. I used that to my advantage more than I should have. I told you that you couldn't do something even if I knew you could because I wanted to motivate you. I thought I was motivating you. I used your need to be a 'good turian' to drive you forward. I thought…" Alitus stopped there, his voice strangled and his sub harmonics soaked in his own shame. "I thought I was doing the right thing."

Garrus couldn't believe what he was hearing and moved to reassure his father that he'd done the right thing.

"You were! I  _was_  motivated! I achieved more than I ever would have if you hadn't been there telling me I couldn't do something."

"But you're my son," Alitus started again, "and I should've shown you more compassion. I should've been more supportive of some of your more renegade choices. I manipulated you…"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes, yes I did," Alitus looked down at his own boots as he spoke. "I knew how to motivate you. A healthy dose of disapproval to redirect you mixed with a challenge and you were off to prove me wrong. In the process you moved yourself forward. You've climbed the tiers of our society faster than most males your age, but you don't see that as an achievement, do you?"

Garrus opened his mouth to speak but closed it again when his father looked up at him. He was suddenly older than Garrus had ever seen him. His eyes were clouded with self-doubt.

"I should've told you how proud I was of you," Alitus confessed. "Every time the Normandy was mentioned on the news I was proud; proud because I knew that my son was on that ship. I may not agree with the idea behind the SpecTRes, but I cannot find fault in the woman you chose to follow. I should have made that clear."

"Dad," Garrus pled, begging his father to take a breath.

"No! Let me finish," Alitus demanded. "Every time we've locked spurs about a choice you've made, I've been proud of you. I'm proud to know that you've grown into yourself. You are your own person; you have convictions and beliefs you hold fast to and you're not afraid to stand up for them. How could I ever be ashamed of you?"

"I just thought…" Garrus began but again, Alitus cut him off.

"If you chose to decline the Primacy, I may have questioned you but not because I thought less of you, never because I was ashamed. I would only want to know that you were sure you were doing the right thing. If you choose not to swear this Oath, I will not be ashamed of you!" Alitus gritted the last words out but then spoke them again, quieter. "I will not be ashamed of you because I know that you would not make that choice lightly and that if that is your choice it is because you feel you can do more in a different position."

Silver swirled blue eyes met ice blue; determination and pride boring into shock and confusion.

"I have never and  _will never_  be ashamed of you," Alitus vowed one final time.


	15. Chapter 14

"I hope you understand that I do  _not_ agree with this plan," Liara said as she folded her night gown and set it on the growing pile of clothing on their bed.

"I understand, Liara," James sighed. His patience was waning quickly as he listened to her grouse and grumble as she packed an overnight bag. "But they  _need_  this. Alitus is right."

"He may have made a good point. He may be right, but I don't have to like it!" She punched her fist against the pile of neatly folded clothing on the bed.

James sat down on the bed next to her pile of clothing; wrapping his hand around her fist, he tugged until she was standing in front of him.

"So you agree with the Ambassador?"

"His logic is sound," Liara grumbled glancing to the side and unable to meet James' eyes.

"Then why are you so upset about this?"

She countered his question with one of her own.

"You're not upset that we're leaving them unprotected?"

"They're Jane and Garrus Vakarian," James reminded her. "It's not like we're leaving two civilians alone in the middle of a war zone. They're armed to their teeth,"—he ran his hand up her arm to her elbow and then back down again as he spread his legs and pulled her closer—"the house is bugged,"—he moved his hands to her hips, tugging her even closer as his palms coasted from her hips to the small of her back and then lower—"and we haven't received any indication of these terrorists planning another attack." He leaned forward, pressing his lips to her collarbone as he finished talking. He nibbled, lapping at the delicate scaling there before moving up toward her neck.

"Actually…" Liara began but broke off to moan as he nipped along her neck, sucking at the juncture where neck and shoulder met.

He pulled away to look at her, waiting until she'd opened her eyes and met his gaze before asking, "Actually, what?"

"I received some information a few hours ago," Liara began. She fidgeted in his arms, picking at invisible lint on his shirt as she looked down at his chest. "There is a rumor about another attack happening in the next few days. I haven't been able to confirm anything though."

"Damn it, Liara," James growled. She tried to pull away from him but he refused to let her go. "Why didn't you say something before now?"

"Because it's  _just_  a rumor," she reiterated, "and I was not able to find information to prove or disprove it. There is no reason for everyone to be on edge over  _rumors_! Jane and Garrus don't need to be jumping at shadows."

"Why didn't you tell  _me_?!"

"I didn't see any reason to worry anyone. What if I told you and it turned out to be nothing?"

"Then it would have been nothing," he pointed out tersely. "But if it  _is_  something, then I know and won't be caught off guard."

She ran her hands from his shoulders to his neck, rubbing at the muscles there and working her fingers up into his hair to gently scratch at his scalp.

"I'm sorry James,"—she leaned down and planted a chaste kiss on his lips—"I'm so used to keeping everything a secret—"

"But you don't need to anymore," he interrupted her to say. "We're a team now."

She sighed before continuing, "—I'm still getting used to having someone to share this burden with."

" _I_  need to know that  _you_ know you have someone to share it with, though," he pressed his forehead to hers, bumping their noses together. "We are a team, Li."

* * *

"Your omni-tool connects directly to the communication net we have set up," Liara explained to Jane as they walked toward the door. "If you have any problems or need us for anything, just ping us and we can be here in three minutes."

"We'll be fine," Jane assured her friend as she ushered her out onto the front stoop. "Enjoy your weekend with James."

"If there is anything you two need," Liara continued. "Let us know. We can either go get it or have it delivered. I don't want you two out in public without a security team."

"Liara!" Jane snapped, trying to break through Liara's panic. "We will be fine. Don't worry!"

"…I moved a crate of your spare ammo into the house from the shed out back," James was saying as he and Garrus came to join Liara and Jane on the front porch. "I think that should be enough for you two to hold out until we get here if anything should happen."

Garrus patted James on the shoulder, his mandibles fluttering nervously as he walked his friend out of the house.

"Thanks."

"No problem, Scars," James grinned. "Good luck."

Garrus winked at his friend before shaking his hand and saying a final, "Have fun!"

He moved to stand next to Jane as they watched their friends walk down the drive toward the waiting sky car.

"They deserve this," Jane said.

"Yeah," Garrus agreed.

"They needed this break."

"I agree."

"So, um…" Jane fidgeted next to him for a moment before she turned to face him. "I'm going to go back inside. The Council sent me some information they'd like me to look over and I really should do that."

"Okay," Garrus nodded. "I need to call Palaven anyway."

"Good luck," Jane said with a small smile. She knew how much Garrus had grown to hate calling Callus over the past few weeks.

"Thank you," Garrus returned her smile tentatively. "I think I'm going to need it."

"Well, then…" Jane swung her hands at her side, clapping them together in front of her stomach once before dropping them again and turning to go inside.

"Let me know if you need anything," Garrus called after her as she retreated.

* * *

With a sigh, Jane set her stylus aside. If she tried to sign another report, her hand was going to sue for separate maintenance. Groaning slightly, she shoved away from her desk and heaved her swollen body out of her desk chair. She massaged her lower back slowly as she paced her office. If sitting was uncomfortable, walking was becoming a downright chore. She dug her fingers into the sore muscles of her lower back and tried to replicate whatever magic Garrus performed when he rubbed her back. Sadly, her small, human fingers were a pale replacement for his strong, competent digits.

Her chin dipped and she gazed on her distended stomach before whispering, "I miss your daddy."

As if in reply, the baby rolled over and kicked against her insides lightly.

"Hey, little man," she said more loudly as she rubbed her hand against the bulge at her middle. "I know you miss daddy, too, but is there any chance you could give your mama a break? I think you've bruised me."

In response to her question, the baby kicked again and landed a hard blow against her bladder.

"Ack!" Jane flinched before hastily heading out of her office. Wheezing lightly, she muttered under her breath as she waddled, "I take that as a no. I'm sorry I even asked."

Jane reminded herself that she had only eight more weeks of being at her unborn child's beck and call as she left the bathroom after relieving herself. Only two more months of eating what he demanded, walking when he wanted to be rocked, or running for the bathroom when he felt the urge to play kickball with her insides. In a few short weeks she would be holding this bundle of energy and mischief in her arms.

She was rounding the corner into the living room when she heard a noise in the basement. A loud thud reverberated through the floor boards, causing her feet to tingle with the vibration; the sound was followed by the cringe inducing screech of metal being dragged across cement.

"What  _is_ he doing down there?" Jane wondered aloud as she continued on to the kitchen.

She was up on her tiptoes, reaching into the back of a cabinet where she kept her favorite water glass—the one that was covered in bright pink polka dots and had a reusable straw—when the next bang sounded through the house. She settled back onto her heels with a huff, leaving her favorite cup where it was and instead opted for grabbing two bottles of chilled water from the refrigerator. Beverages in hand, she made her way back through the house and into the basement where Garrus was apparently hard at work demolishing something.

* * *

He didn't hear her descent down the stairs because he was too busy dragging the furniture around his work room. She'd always joked that the fourth step squeaked loud enough to be heard in the middle of a firefight, but apparently that was not the case; even with his advanced hearing, he hadn't heard the creak as her weight settled onto the stair. So it was understandable that he was startled when she spoke from behind him.

"What are you doing, Garrus?" A chuckle escaped her as she leaned against the door jamb, her gaze taking in the disarray of his work space.

He forced himself to stand up slowly, straightening from his slouched position before he fully met her gaze. She was smiling at him, her features more relaxed than he'd seen them in the past few days. The crooked grin that sent his left mandible flaring out came naturally as he threw his hands out to encompass the whole room.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Causing mass chaos?" she rebutted as she stepped into the room.

She skirted around a filing cabinet that was shoved haphazardly out of his current path before squeezing between the desk and work bench that were back to back in the center of the room. Once she was within range of him she stuck her arm out, a water bottle dangling from her delicate fingers.

"Sounds like you're working up a sweat," she teased, knowing full well that turians didn't perspire like humans did. "I thought you might be thirsty."

He accepted the water, letting his talons trace lightly over her fingers as he took the bottle from her grasp.

"Thanks," he murmured before twisting the cap off and tipping the bottle to his lip plates.

"No problem," she replied as she turned and worked back through the pieces of furniture; rubbing her lower back with her free hand.

"Is your back bothering you still?" he asked in a paltry attempt to make conversation.

"Always," she answered sardonically.

He set his bottle of water down and moved through the room until he was behind her. "Here," he murmured as he pushed her hand away. "Let me."

"You don't have to do that, Garrus," she began to protest but her words turned to a moan as his warm hands settled against her waist.

"I know," he spoke quietly. "But I want to."

Instinctively, she leaned forward and braced her hands against the surface of the filing cabinet, presenting him with a better angle to massage her back. He worked from the outside in, never pressing directly on her spine as he knew it would cause more pain than relief. After long moments of his hands smoothing over her sore muscles, her body began to relax and she slumped forward even further.

"C'mon," Garrus murmured in her ear. He'd bent forward, his front pressed against her back so he could speak quietly to her. "Why don't you sit down on the cot and I'll finish what I started?"

"Garrus," her voice was low, grogginess causing her words to slur, "are you trying to take advantage of me?"

"Me?" he asked, feigned outrage at her accusation ringing through his voice. "What sort of male takes advantage of a woman in your condition?"

"Condition?" she squeaked, straightening up and turning around to face him. Her cheeks were flushed a soft pink color and her eyes were bright in mock outrage, but mirth danced in their depths.

"You're exhausted! You can hardly stand on your own." He held his hands up in surrender, his mandibles flaring with a smirk.

She shook her head as she pressed past him and moved toward the cot. Though she huffed with indignation as she moved, her words were playful and her body relaxed and loose, letting him know she wasn't actually upset.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," she wagged a finger at him in mock discipline. "Turning a defenseless woman to putty with your hands and then accusing her of being weak; quite the dastardly deed, indeed."

"My sincerest apologies, Commander," he used her old rank purposely to play with her, enjoying these moments where he was able to watch her smile and laugh. He smirked when she scowled at him and laughed outright before throwing her a sarcastic salute.

"Insubordination," she accused as he came closer to her. "I should have you up on charges."

"You can't," he teased. "I outrank you—for once. Now, sit," he ordered, pointing to the cot behind her.

"Don't go getting ahead of yourself," she reminded him as she sat down on the cot. "You haven't sworn that oath yet."

He dismissed her reminder with a flippant wave of his hand.

"Technicalities—I'll have that oath sworn within the next ten days."

"Oh, you will, will you?" she asked, assuming he was still joking.

"Yes," he answered seriously as he perched on the cot behind her. He helped her adjust until she was sitting cross legged and leaned forward, her elbows against the mattress and her head propped up on her hands.

"I spoke to Callus earlier," he explained as he began to rub her back again. He moved from her shoulders to her lower back then back to her shoulders, massaging her neck before his hands move up into her hair to rub her scalp.

"You told me you were going to call Palaven," she responded, her voice low and groggy again.

"He says that the Hierarchy should arrive on the Citadel within five Earth days."

"Oh?"

"Yes. He assures me that five days is plenty of time to arrange everything for the ceremony," Garrus continued. "All we have to do is make sure your—and the baby's—files reach Huerta before you arrive on the station."

"And whose idea was it for you to swear your Oath on the Citadel?" she asked.

"Indirectly, it was my father's," Garrus explained. She could hear the shrug in his voice even if she couldn't see the movement of his shoulders. "Technically, he suggested that I swear my oath here, on Earth, but I didn't think that would be a good idea. I figure that would add fuel to the fire already burning under those terrorists who don't like that I'm mated with a human."

"So you countered with the Citadel?" she asked, trying to fill in the holes.

"Yeah."

He was working his fingers through her hair now, tugging gently at her scalp as he separated her curls, allowing the soft locks to twist around his digits and cascade over his forearm.

"And swearing your Oath on the Citadel is acceptable?"

She relaxed into his ministrations, her eyes shutting against her will as he continued to play with her hair. Occasionally, his fingers would wander to her neck, massaging the tension there.

"There is no law that states I must swear my Oath on Palaven," he answered.

"You're sure?"

"Callus was up all night reading through every law and bylaw that deals with the Oath; none of them require a candidate for Primarch to swear his Oath on Palaven. The only requirement is that all of the Hierarchy be present."

Her response was a quiet hum as her shoulders slumped completely; the only thing that kept her from falling face first into his pillow was her stomach.

A wry chuckle escaped him as he pushed up from the cot and went to work rearranging Jane. He laid her down carefully, situating her on the cot so that her head was supported by his pillow. He grabbed the spare pillow he'd shoved under the cot and tucked it under her stomach to help support the baby. She stirred as he tucked the blanket around her shoulders—murmuring in her sleep for a moment before settling down.

"You need to stop doing this, Vakarian," he chastised himself as he lifted one end of the work bench and slipped pieces of old carpet under the legs in hopes of being able to move the table without disturbing Jane.

Yet again, he needed to talk to Jane - and yet again he'd avoided the problem until she fell asleep and he was off the hook. Except, he wasn't off the hook; he needed to talk to her. He was running out of time to clear the air between them because he was leaving for the Citadel in just a few days.

"Grow a quad!" he growled to himself as he hefted one end of the work bench and dragged it back to its original spot in the room.

* * *

"So, Bakara was able to ' _persuade_ ' one of the other females into babysitting," Wrex's voice boomed out of the com-terminal on Garrus' desk, waking Jane from her nap.

"That means we'll be there for your coronation."

"It's more like an inauguration than a coronation," Garrus corrected.

"Heh," Wrex barked. "I still can't believe it. The turians must be in bad shape if you're their best bet to lead them into this new age of ' _peace_.'"

"Well if  _you_  can handle the pressures of leading a clan, I think  _I_  can handle being the primarch," Garrus said with a light chuckle.

Jane smiled softly listening to the low rumble of Garrus' voice as he spoke to their old friend. He sounded relaxed as he joked with Wrex and teased the old mercenary about being a respectable family man now. She lay on her side, her head propped up in her hand as she watched Garrus. He was leaning back in his chair with his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands clasped behind his head, below his fringe—a pose she hadn't seen in a while. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how tense he was. She couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed freely while joking with a friend. It had only been two weeks since the attack, but was even longer since the last time Jane had seen Garrus like this.

She stayed where she was, making as little noise as possible, so that she wouldn't alert him to her presence and burst this small moment of happiness. She wanted this for him; he deserved to be happy and relaxed in his own home. He and Wrex continued to talk for long minutes, good-naturedly jabbing at each other about their duties, women, and families until Bakara's face filled the screen.

"Congratulations, Garrus," she said, her voice the same soft lilt it had been during her time on the Normandy.

"Thank you, Bakara." Garrus sat up as he spoke to her. He pulled his hands down from his head and sat up straighter as he addressed the female krogan.

"I'm sorry to end this conversation as I can see how much you've needed it," she continued, "But Wrex is needed elsewhere."

She turned to Wrex before speaking again.

"Mordin tried to run a 'test' on his sister; she is currently beating him to a pulp and won't listen to me. I don't have time to deal with them because I'm getting everything settled with the female clan leaders before we leave. Go tame your spawn."

"Work, work, work," Wrex grumbled, though Jane could hear the love and pride in his voice. "Well, we'll see you in a few days, Vakarian."

"Good luck with the kids," Garrus answered, "and safe travels!"

Wrex disconnected the call with a grumble and dismissive wave of his large hand, which made Jane smirk. The old krogan was the same now as he'd been five years earlier when they first met. She was just about to get up and let Garrus know she was awake when his com-terminal bleeped, notifying him of another incoming call.

"Vakarian," he barked as he accepted the call, though Jane noticed that he left his camera off so while he could see whoever was calling, the caller could only hear Garrus' voice.

"Hey there, old buddy!" a turian voice came through the terminal.

Jane's eyebrows pulled down over her eyes in confusion—she knew most of Garrus' friends and this turian did not sound familiar at all.

"Hi," Garrus responded, confusion evident in his voice which piqued Jane's curiosity even further. Garrus wasn't sure who this turian was, either.

"You don't remember me, do you?" the other turian's voice turned sad.

"No, I don't," Garrus confessed.

"We were in basic training together," the turian reminded him. He gestured toward his face as he continued, "Alorus Thractis."

"Thractis?" Garrus repeated as he leaned closer to the terminal, squinting at the male's face.

Jane pushed herself up to sitting so she could get a better look at the terminal as well. The turian was all together unremarkable. His markings were simple, signifying that he was from a smaller family on an outer colony, but that didn't make his story less believable. All turians went to basic training at fifteen where their standing in the hierarchy meant nothing. A farm family's son from an outer colony could end up bunking next to the primarch's son if they both came of age at the same time. There was something about his markings that confused Jane. She squinted at his image over Garrus' shoulder, examining the turian's facial plates carefully. Something was definitely off, but she couldn't put her finger on what exactly.

"We were in the same barracks for the first four weeks," the turian explained. "You had the bottom bunk, I was up top. You told me about Solana and how your dad was pressuring you to go into sniper training but you were curious about engineering."

Garrus mandibles relaxed for a moment as he gaped at the screen before a grin pulled them up high.

"Thracky!" he cried. "Spirits! It's been forever! I'm sorry I didn't remember right away."

"It's fine, I understand," Thractis shrugged. "You've got a lot going on right now. There's a rumor you're going to be the next Primarch."

"Yeah," Garrus looked down as he turned on his camera so the other turian could finally see him. He rubbed the back of his neck—a nervous habit of his—before he met the other turian's gaze. "It's not a rumor."

"No shit!" the turian cursed before chuckling. "You're going to be the Primarch! I bet those stories everyone is telling about you having served on the Normandy and advising Primarch Victus are true, too."

Garrus didn't say anything; instead he continued to stare at the other turian, one brow plate lifted for a moment. Apparently he'd conveyed whatever he wanted to say through his subharmonics because the other turian's brow plates shot up as his mandibles fell. He was openly gaping at Garrus.

"Spirits, man!" the turian finally spoke. "Next you're gonna tell me you really did mate that human Spectre."

"He did," Jane said from behind him, finally deciding to make it known that she was awake.

"Jane!"

Garrus turned away from the terminal as she struggled to her feet. She reached for Garrus and he gripped her arm, helping to pull her up until she was standing.

"You need a taller cot down here," Jane huffed as she rubbed her lower back, "or you could just sleep in our bed so that I don't have to come down here to steal your pillows."

"Heh," Garrus huffed as he rubbed the back of his neck again.

"Hell, you still haven't lost that tell," Thractis chimed in from the terminal. "Always rubs his neck when he's embarrassed or nervous. The DI swore you were going to rub your hide off, remember?"

"I remember," Garrus agreed. "What the hell have you been up to? Where'd you end up after basic?"

"That was twenty years ago, Garrus," Thractis said with a shake of his head. "If we're going to relive that many years, we might as well do it over a few drinks and some good food. Why don't we meet up for dinner?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm on Earth, currently doing some business here. I'm supposed to leave tomorrow but I'm free tonight. I know this little place in London"—Thractis leaned closer to the terminal as though he were telling a secret—"it's off the beaten path so it won't be too crowded."

"I'm not sure—" Garrus began to answer, but Jane cut him off.

"Sounds great!" she beamed at the turian on the screen. "We'll meet you there around twenty- one hundred hours."

"Great! I'll make sure they hold a table for us!" Thractis returned her smile with a grin of his own, his mandibles flared away from his cheeks to bare his teeth as he disconnected the call.

"Jane," Garrus spoke up after the call disconnected. "What are you thinking? We're basically on house arrest, we can't leave."

"Sure we can," Jane grinned impishly as she hopped off his lap and started walking toward his work table. "You just have to hack into Liara's network and crash the cameras for a few minutes so we can get off the property."

"Oh, is that all?" Garrus scoffed. "I'll get right on that."

"Great!"

Jane began to rifle through the drawers of his work table, pulling out weapon mods for her pistol while Garrus watched; his head tilted to the side in confusion.

"What are you doing, Jane?"

"Modding my gun," she spoke past the tool she held between her teeth as she delicately moved a mod into place. Once it was where she wanted it, she reached for the tool to tighten it down. She set the wrench aside and reached for the small soldering laser he kept among his tools and connected the circuits of the mod to the circuitry of her pistol.

"Why?"

"Well you don't expect me to walk into this ' _dinner_ ' unarmed," she answered as she turned around to face him, the pistol still in her grip and held it closely to her face as she inspected her work to make sure it was perfect. After a moment, she pulled the gun away and looked him square in the eye.

"It's a trap," he said.

"I know," she smirked.

"You're pregnant," he reminded her.

"And you're a turian," she shot back. "Are we done stating the obvious?"

"You were just released from bed rest," Garrus continued.

"Apparently, we're still stating the obvious," Jane sighed. "Why do you think it's a trap, Garrus?"

"Why do  _you_ think it's a trap?" he answered her question with one of his own.

She leaned back against the work table and crossed her arms in front of her chest, resting them against her stomach.

"Something was wrong with his markings," she explained. "I can't figure out what, but they weren't right."

"Because his original markings had been burned off," Garrus explained. He pointed to his face as he continued. "The work was done professionally, but his plates were scarred where the markings had been burned away. I don't know who he is, but he's not Alorus Thractis. The kid that bunked above me in basic training was quiet and kept to himself. He was an engineering savant and he stuttered. That turian wasn't the Thracky that I knew."

"People can change, Garrus," Jane said, though she was apt to agree with Garrus, something had been off about that turian. "What about all the stories? He seemed to know you."

"He didn't know anything that wasn't common knowledge," Garrus explained. "His speech patterns, the way he looked at me, the way he made eye contact…" Garrus sighed and shook his head. "That wasn't Alorus Thractis. At first glance he could pass for my bunk mate, but that's all. Anyone who knew Thracky would have been able to tell that wasn't him."

"So why would this male impersonate someone you bunked with for four weeks during basic training? Why not chose someone you're more likely to remember and trust?" Jane asked as she uncrossed her arms and set her pistol on the work bench.

"Because I would've made him for sure if he impersonated anyone else," Garrus answered. "Someone obscure from my background, someone I would only vaguely remember, would work best. As for what he's hoping to gain from this," Garrus shook his head again and sighed. "I have no idea. Best guess, if I had to guess, is that he's trying to lure us out. Once we're in public they'll have us."

"Whoever they are," Jane reminded him.

"It's a trap, Jane," Garrus repeated.

"Yes, it's a trap," she agreed, "and you're not walking into it alone."

Jane's gaze met Garrus' glare and she refused to so much as blink until he'd given in to her. Seconds ticked by as they stared each other down; she set her jaw, the muscle twitching as she gritted her teeth. She was mentally preparing herself for battle, coming up with every possible rebuttal to any one of his reasons why she shouldn't come with, when he finally blinked.

"Fine," he sighed. "But you stay behind me!"

Jane gaped at him, shocked at how easily he gave in.

"That was much easier than I expected," she said cautiously.

"What would you have done if I said no?"

"I would've pestered you until you said yes," she answered. "I would have argued, harangued and possibly even hounded you until you gave in."

"I decided I didn't want to argue, be harangued, pestered, or hounded," he said with a shrug. "In the end you would've come with or snuck out after me. This way I know where you are the whole time."

"So, we're going?" Jane asked, barely able to contain the excitement that snuck into her voice.

"Yes," Garrus sighed as he turned back to his terminal. "So I better start working on hacking Liara's network, now, because this is going to take a while and we're on a deadline."

"I'll go make you a sandwich."

* * *

"This is definitely a trap," Garrus said as he pushed away from his desk.

Jane looked up at him from her perch in front of his work bench, a wrench between her teeth again, another pistol in one hand and a mod in the other.

"I thought we'd already gone over this," she mumbled around the wrench.

"I just found Liara's cache of intelligence on our situation," he explained. "She's been holding out on us."

" _They've_  been holding out on us," Jane corrected as she set the pistol down and removed the wrench from her between her lips. "You can guarantee anything she knows, James knows. They're inseparable."

Garrus sighed as he rested his arms against his thighs and stared down at his hands. James was his best friend, why didn't he tell Garrus about this information? Why was he keeping secrets?

"Hey," Jane spoke up as she moved across the room, coming up beside him. She rested her hand against the back of his cowl, stroking the thinner skin of his hide just inside the protective structure. "I'm sure they thought they were doing the right thing."

"He's my best friend," Garrus whispered, betrayal lacing his words. "They're protecting our lives; they're supposed to be working with us…"

"And they've been keeping secrets," Jane finished for him. "Because they think that's the right thing to do. We've worked undercover ops and protection details in the past—we've kept secrets because we thought it was the right thing to do."

"Because it  _was_  the right thing to do!"

"Garrus," Jane began but he cut her off.

"We were protecting civilians, politicians, orphans—they didn't understand tactics. They weren't familiar with the procedures we had to follow. They didn't understand what was going on around them; we're  _different!_  We do understand. We've been on the other side. We could have helped!" he growled in frustration as he shoved the chair out of his way and began to pace the work room.

"And we're also biased," Jane reminded him as she sat down in the desk chair. "These are our lives at stake now, all of our lives. Yours, mine, and our son's all hang in the balance. One wrong move, one wrong decision and one—or all—of us could be lost."

"I'd never let anything happen to you or the baby," Garrus growled as he stormed across the room.

When he was in front of her he dropped to his knees and pressed a hand to her stomach. The baby rolled and kicked against his hand as though he knew it was Garrus' hand pressed against his current home. Leaning forward, Garrus pressed his forehead to Jane's. As he rubbed the plates of his forehead gently against hers, she brought her hand up to rest on top of his.

"I know, Garrus," she whispered.

"But I also need to know," he whispered back. "I know this is a trap, but I need to know what's going on. We can't stay hidden forever; we can't live in fear like this."

" _We_  need to know," she agreed.

"You're going to do as I say," he growled, pressing his forehead against hers with more force. "You're going to follow my lead."

"I am?"

"If you're coming along, you're going to do as I say. Please, Jane, just this once, let me lead," his voice was husky with emotion. "I was an investigator once, remember? Under cover was my thing. So were interrogations."

"Just this once?" Jane asked with a smirk. "I can name quite a few times when you lead."

"Jane," his growl was harsher, bordering on a snarl.

"Whatever you say, darling," she agreed with a sigh. "You're the boss  _this time._ "

He pulled away from her slightly, but kept his hand on her stomach. Since the fight he hadn't felt his son move; he'd kept his distance from Jane because of how he'd acted. He was ashamed of what he'd said and done and he wasn't sure how to fix it, but he knew he needed to. Now, before they got into that skycar, and definitely before they walked into that dive bar Thractis had invited them to.

"Jane," he spoke softly as he stared at his talons tracing small circles along her abdomen, "we need to talk."

"We have plans to make," she said with a nod. "We need to have an escape route, make sure we're not seated too far from an exit or defensible position…"

"No," he cut her off. "We need to talk about last Friday."

"Now?" she sounded shocked. "You want to talk about that right now? We're on a time table, Garrus."

"Yes, now," he repeated. "Now, more than any other time, we need to discuss this. I won't leave this room until we've talked this out, until I've apologized for what I said."

"Apology accepted," she replied quickly.

"Dammit, Jane!" he snarled as he lifted his gaze to hers. "I lied to you over and over! I used my father as an excuse for my own cowardice. I fucked up!"

He stared into her eyes, watching them for any sign of emotion from her. Was she angered by what he said? Did it bring her joy to hear him confess his failings? Was she looking for him to grovel? In that moment as he stared into her eyes, as he fell into their emerald green depths he realized he would, very happily, grovel and beg for her forgiveness. He would do anything she asked of him, sacrifice anything for her, give up anything she demanded he give up if only she would forgive him and take him back.

"Yes, you did," she whispered, her voice so soft that if he hadn't been watching her face in that moment and saw her lips move, he wouldn't have known she had spoken at all.

"I'm so sorry, Jane," he croaked, his subharmonics rising to the forefront so quickly that they choked his primary vocal chords, making it nearly impossible for him to speak.

"I'm so sorry I lied," he spoke again. "I should have told you the truth from the beginning. I was...am...scared."

Her left hand came up to rest against his scarred mandible as she spoke, "Scared of what, Garrus?"

"Failure," he began. Sighing deeply, he dropped his gaze to her stomach as he began to draw small circles there, again. "I'm afraid of letting you down, of letting my family down, of failing myself. I'm afraid of screwing up again, like Omega, only this time it would be a thousand times worse. This wouldn't be a team of eleven people looking to me for guidance. This is my whole species."

Gentle pressure under his jaw brought his gaze back to Jane's.

"Garrus, why couldn't you talk to me? Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I didn't know how," he sighed. "I guess I wasn't really sure if I was right for this position. I wasn't confident that I was the right turian for the job and a part of me felt like I didn't deserve it. If I told myself that I had to take the position, that my family's honor depended on it, I could drown out the voice that was screaming that I didn't deserve this honor."

"Oh, Garrus," she sighed. "I can understand feeling that way with everyone else, but why me? Why didn't you trust me?"

"It wasn't that I didn't trust you," he sighed and shoved himself to his feet; the feel of her fingers dragging down his plates as he stood was like glass scraping against his most tender hide. "I didn't trust  _myself_. I was afraid. If I voiced that doubt for even a moment, I was sure that it would take over and control me. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to drown it again and carry on…"

"You were just plain afraid, Garrus," Jane finished for him.

He turned away from her and stalked toward his work bench. He heaved a heavy breath as he pressed his fists against the top of the bench, leaning hard on his hands when he felt her presence next to him. Her hand landed on his arm softly, but held the weight of every wrong word he'd spoken and every promise he'd broken. He had to grit his teeth to keep from wincing away from her.

"I'm still worried," he said quietly, pulling his deepest fears from their dungeon inside his soul to bare them in front of Jane. "I'm worried I'll fail; I'm worried I'll go down in the annals of my people as the worst Primarch ever. I am not perfect, and I do not have any reason to believe that my primacy will be perfect; however, I will do all that I can to lead my people. I will help them to find their place in this galaxy again."

Jane squeezed his arm, holding his bicep tightly until he turned to look at her.

"I believe in you, Garrus. I always have."

"Can you ever forgive me, though?" he croaked. "I was a fool. I acted like an ass—worse than an ass. I don't have the words to describe my behavior. I know that no amount of apology and wishing it hadn't happened can take my actions or my words back, but if you give me the chance I'll spend the rest of my life trying to prove to you that I am worthy of your love and your loyalty."

He stood still, the muscles in his body tensed as he held himself rigidly in place while every fiber of his being was screaming for him to run away. What if she wouldn't forgive him? What if in that one moment of carelessness he'd lost the woman he would love forever? Could she forgive him? Could she ever look at him again and believe that he trusted her? Would she always wonder what he wasn't telling her?

It was the quiet sniffle from beside him that jerked him into action. He spun quickly, his talons wrapping around her shoulders as he pulled her to face him.

"Jane?" he asked as he watched tears track down her cheeks.

"Oh, Garrus," she sobbed, throwing herself at him before she burrowed her face against his shoulder. "Of course I'll forgive you. Can you do the same for me, though?"

"What?" He blinked, surprised by her request.

He was dumbstruck as he held her weeping form to his body. Forgive her for what? What could she have possibly done that warranted forgiveness from him?

"I overreacted to the situation. I was aggressive and violent—I pinned you down, forced you to submit as I threatened you. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I didn't care," she snuffled against his shirt, wiping her face into the fabric before she pulled away. He watched her as she took deep breaths in an attempt to compose herself.

"Even if I can justify my original reaction, my continued tantrum was unacceptable," she went on to explain. "I locked you out of our room, the one place we swore we'd never take a fight. I refused to allow you to sleep in your own bed because I was childish and angry—"

"Rightfully so."

"It's my turn to apologize," she reminded him.

"Sorry, please, continue," he bit the tip of his tongue in an attempt to keep the smirk tugging at his mandibles from escaping. Apparently, he was not quick enough in repressing the smirk, however, because she slapped his arm playfully as one corner of her mouth pulled up into a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Garrus. If I had stopped behaving childishly days ago we would be past this already," she began, but he stopped her with a talon pressed to her lips.

"I'm not sure that's true. My father didn't beat some sense into me until a few days ago," he explained. "There is no guarantee that we would have come to this conclusion without his heavy handed tough love."

"I'm still sorry," she repeated.

"I'll accept your apology on one condition," he spoke, all humor gone from his voice and replaced with a stern seriousness that she rarely remembered seeing from him.

"What?"

"You never, ever, make me sleep on that cot again," he smiled then, chuckling as her eyes widened and her lips pulled up into a grin.

"It's a deal," she chuckled with him. "Please come back to our bed, Garrus."

His grin turned devilish just before he spoke. His voice dropped low, growling as he pulled her close and pressed his forehead to hers.

"With pleasure," he purred as he moved, dragging his mouth plates lightly down the side of her face to the crook of her neck where he nipped lightly. He lapped at the delicate skin of her neck and shoulder until he found his bond mark. With little warning he opened his mouth and bit down, his teeth sliding home exactly as they had two years earlier to mark her again. He held her there for a moment, pinned to him and unable to move for fear of tearing her shoulder apart before slowly pulling away. He lapped at the wound to slow the bleeding.

"Wasn't expecting that," she murmured as she turned her head to inspect the bite.

"Urge just came over me," he shrugged sheepishly as he turned away to fumble in the drawers of his work bench until he found a packet of medi-gel. He returned to her side as he twisted the top of the tube of 'gel and squeezed some on to his talon to smear across the punctures.

"Not too much," she reminded him as she grasped his wrist when he came back with a second dose of medi-gel. "I don't want it to heal completely. Let it scar."

"Are you sure, Jane?" He quirked a brow plate as he waited, his medi-gel covered finger poised to deliver another swipe of the healing gel if she gave her permission.

"I'm absolutely positive that I want that to scar," she beamed. "Are you afraid that I wouldn't want the Primarch's mark on me?"

"Never," he growled as he wiped the unused gel off on a rag from his work bench before pulling her close for a quick kiss. "And as much as I'd like to continue this, we do have a dinner date to finish getting ready for."

Her demeanor changed almost instantly, her posture going from relaxed to alert at the mention of their dinner with Thractis.

"Were you able to hack into Liara's surveillance network?"

"I found the path in; when we're ready I'll flood it with a few zetabytes of junk data which should cause the cameras to crash. I can't guarantee how long it will take her to reboot the system, so we'll have to move quickly," he explained.

"Have I ever told you how sexy it is watching you hack things?" Jane joked as she went back to modding the pistol she'd put down earlier.

"I believe this is the first you've mentioned it," he chuckled as he joined her at the bench and took the pistol from her hands. "I'll handle this, you should go get ready."


	16. Chapter 15

Jane stormed out of the master bathroom, one hand holding her hair back behind her head as she tossed things off the top of her dresser and pulled drawers open with the other.

"Hey, Garrus!" she called without looking up as she yanked another drawer open and flung the contents around. "Have you seen that new pack of hair ties that I bought?"

"Catch," he called back as he tossed something over his shoulder. Reaching out with the hand that wasn't holding her hair, she snatched the item out of the air.

"Thanks, babe!"

She pulled a hair tie free of the packaging with her teeth before stretching it on her fingers and twisting it around her hair. Her curls were the longest they'd been since before she joined the Alliance and as she wrestled them into submission she lamented the days when they were shorter. She stepped back into the bathroom to finish securing her hair and took stock of her appearance in the full length mirror on the back of the door. An old Alliance t-shirt was stretched taut over her stomach, maternity fatigue bottoms would have to work in the place of armor, and her old combat boots would at least protect her feet; not exactly much but it would have to do. They were going to a corner pub, not a fancy restaurant, which meant she didn't need to wear a dress or anything fancier than what she had on.

"Well, what do you think…" she asked Garrus as she re-entered their bedroom but the words trailed off as she caught sight of him standing in front of his dresser.

He was pulling the light weight shirt he'd worn all day over his head, the muscles in his arms and sides flexing with the movement and suddenly her mouth was dry. His trousers rode low on his hips—a common style for turians because of their skeletal structure. If she wanted to, she could slide her hands along the top jut of his hip, stroking her fingers along the thinner hide there. He'd shiver and one of those low growls that were just barely within her hearing range would sneak out of his throat when she did it. What was she asking him again?

"I think you're sorely under dressed," Garrus answered her, his eyes on her in the mirror above his dresser.

Her gaze traced over the strong muscles of his back, then shoulders until it finally met his in the mirror. There was no way he couldn't see what she was feeling. He didn't even have to look hard; she could see the desire written all over her face. How long had it been? A month? No, more like six weeks since they'd made love. Even longer since they'd fucked—which is what she wanted in that moment. She didn't want slow and sweet. She wanted him to shove her against the wall and take her until she was screaming his name. She wanted him to show her that she was his mate; she belonged to him and he to her.

They stood there for long moments watching each other closely. She knew he knew exactly what was going through her mind and as his eyes darkened, the lids drooping low she knew that he wasn't unaffected by the situation either. His throat worked as he swallowed hard before reaching for the fastening on his trousers. He met her gaze in the mirror again as he lowered the pants, they stopped at his leg spurs, and when he bent to remove them Jane had to look away.

 _Get ahold of yourself, woman,_ she berated herself.  _You're a mature adult. You should not be leering at your own husband this way._

"You should try that new jacket Liara picked up for you," he suggested, his voice was lower than before and rougher than usual, the rich undertones of his subharmonics causing it to drop just as it did any time he was aroused.

"I will," she replied, her own voice huskier.

Neither of them was immune to the effects of their nearness and his state of undress. It had been too long; they were reacting to each other like teenagers.

"It's supposedly made of a new material that offers protection comparable to light armor," he continued as he picked up his under suit from the top of the dresser.

Next to his suit sat all the pieces of  _his_  light armor neatly laid out in the order that he would put them on. The gleam off of polished ceramic plates woven together with Kevlar and leather strips was the bucket of cold water that broke her out of her hormonal reverie. They were suiting up for what could—and probably would—be another fire fight. The quiet snick of well-maintained clasps as they sealed the pieces of his armor to his body made her throat constrict. Suddenly, she was frozen in her spot for a completely different reason.

Panic suffused her body, gripping her chest like a took a deep breath through her nose, held it in her lungs as she slowly counted to five in her mind, and then let it out just as slowly. They had a job to do and they would do it. This was just another job, just another mission. They were Shepard and Vakarian, they could do this.

 _They could do this,_  she continued to chant in her mind as she forced her legs to move, forced her knees to bend and willed her body toward the closet. She opened the door and shoved her civilian clothing to the side. Behind the yoga pants and t-shirts, skirts and frilly tops, hung a completely different wardrobe. Next to her Alliance dress uniform and three sets of fatigues that fit her pre-baby body, hung two holsters and a black leather jacket. She pulled all three items out and again, forced her legs to walk toward the bed where she carefully laid the jacket and holsters down on the navy blue and silver came up to her as she was running her finger over the N7 insignia stitched onto the left breast of the jacket.

"Hey," he spoke quietly, "you okay?"

For a moment, she thought about telling him she was; for the slightest sliver of time she forgot where she was or who she was with as she reverted back to Commander Shepard. She could feel the cold detachment sliding over her and forced it away.

"No," she whispered as she reached for the hip and thigh holster, "I'm not okay."

She unclasped the holster and strung it around her hips, reconnecting it below her stomach. As she cinched the belt she gritted her teeth. Her unborn child shouldn't have to be nuzzling against a holster, he shouldn't have to feel the cool metal of the clasp or feel the anxiety and adrenaline that coursed through her veins in equal measure. She took another calming breath as she reached for the thigh belt. Before her fingers grasped the well-worn leather, she felt Garrus' hands on her thigh. He unclasped the belt and smoothed the leather down the outside of her thigh before working it around her leg. A gentle tap against the inside of her right thigh let her know he needed her to widen her stance so he could work and she did, woodenly.

"We shouldn't have to do this," she croaked as she looked down at the top of his head. He knelt beside her on one knee as he worked, his fingers expertly tightening and fastening the leather temporarily—everything would have to be refitted once the weapons were in their places.

"No, we shouldn't have to," he agreed as he stood up. He retrieved the shoulder holster as he stood and held it out for her to slip her arms into. "But we need to anyway."

She sucked in a few more breaths as she slipped her arms through the straps of the holster and held still while Garrus tightened the leather around her body. When he applied pressure to her shoulders and pulled her around to face him, she moved stiffly; her feet shuffling across the carpet. She looked up into his eyes and searched for the calm she always found there as she ran her dry tongue over her parched lips.

"I'm scared, Garrus," her voice broke as she confessed what she was feeling. "I've never been scared like this before."

"Hey, there's nothing to be afraid of," he crooned as he pulled her close to him, one of his large hands came up to cradle the back of her head as the other stroked her back. She could feel him humming deep in his chest even though she couldn't hear the tune. The vibrations that rumbled through her cheek as she wrapped her arms around his waist were melodic.

"We're retired, Garrus," Jane murmured into his shoulder. "We saved the galaxy and all we asked for in return was for everyone to respect our retirement and we can't even have that. I just want to raise our family in peace and quiet; a peace that we sacrificed for!"

"I know, love," Garrus agreed as he continued to stroke her back. "But we're going to get to the end of this and then it'll be safe, for all of us. We'll be able to take the baby to the park without worrying that someone is going to hurt him." Garrus leaned away slightly; turning his head down so he was peering over his cowl ridge at Jane's upturned face. "Then all we'll have to contend with are nosy reporters."

"Ugh," Jane groaned as she let her head drop back down to his chest with a thud. "You had to remind me."

Garrus chuckled as he scratched his talons down her back lightly. "You can always punch them, though I'm not sure that's what we want to teach our children."

Jane pulled back again and looked up at Garrus with a smirk, "Sometimes, violence  _is_  the answer."

* * *

"Yes," he murmured, "sometimes it is."

He pulled her close one more time as he closed his eyes and focused on feeling her body against his. She was right, sometimes violence was the answer, but would it be the only answer to tonight's questions? She shifted in his arms, adjusting so that the baby wasn't squished awkwardly between them as he continued to hold her, bringing his attention squarely to the biggest obstacle of the evening—their son. How was he going to keep Jane and their child safe? He'd agreed to her coming along because he knew that even if he said no, she would find a way to come along; it was better to have her along and know exactly where she was at all times. But if something went wrong, how was he going to keep them all safe?

"Maybe we should contact Liara and James," Garrus suggested as he pulled back from Jane. "It wouldn't hurt to have some back up."

She leaned back in his arms so that she could meet his eyes and searched them for any sign that he was trying to back out of their agreement. Was he trying to find a way to keep her home?

"If we called them, do you think they'd let us go?" Jane questioned.

Garrus flicked his left wrist, pulling up his omni-tool so that he could glance at the time and resigned himself to the fact that they would be going in alone.

"We don't have enough time to talk them into it."

"Even if we had a week, we wouldn't be able to get them to agree to this," Jane countered. "I love them both dearly—Liara is the sister I never had—but they have treated us like we're incompetent idiots since they showed up here."

Garrus couldn't deny that. James was more than willing to be his friend when he needed advice about Jane, but the moment he tried to ask about the current security situation, James changed the topic or made up some lame excuse to leave the room. He was tired of it; he was tired of all the secrecy. He was fed up with feeling like everyone was whispering around him. He could understand Jane's need to handle this alone even if he didn't agree with her coming along in her condition.

"Well, we better finish getting ready. Thractis sent me the address for this bar and it's a twenty minute drive from here," Garrus explained as he finally released Jane from his grasp. "We need to leave in forty."

Jane moved away from him and stepped up to the bed, her hand outstretched to grab the leather jacket resting there but at the last moment she froze.

"Jane?"

"I'm fine, Garrus," she spoke through gritted teeth.

As he watched, her spine straightened and the mask he'd grown accustomed to seeing during the war with the Reapers came over her face. She was devoid of emotion, utterly calm as she grabbed the jacket and turned toward the bedroom door.

"Let's get this over with," she growled as she led the way out of the room.

* * *

Jane was pacing which wasn't normal for her before a mission or operation. She was usually calm and collected, but this time she was fretting. Garrus sighed again as she made another pass around his small work room and tried to focus on his work. He wanted to ask her to stop it or to take her pacing elsewhere but he didn't have time, nor did he really want her to leave; he just wanted her to stop.

He was ready; they could crash the cameras at any point and get on their way, however he had one more thing to do before he was willing to do that. As much as Jane wanted to do this alone, he knew that they couldn't. They had to meet Thractis and get as much information from him as they could, but if anything happened, if things didn't go according to plan—and they never did—they were screwed. As the humans said, "up shit creek without a paddle." He had no intentions of being up any creek paddle-less.

_James-_

_Doing something that's probably stupid, but we don't have a choice. Gilhouly's at 2100. See you there!_

_~G_

He scheduled the message to be delivered to James' omni-tool at 2105, which would at least give them 25 minutes to get as much information from Thractis as possible before James and Liara—and whatever crew they brought along—swooped in and dragged them off. It was also a failsafe; if anything went wrong—which it probably would—back up would already be on the way. Now all he needed was a distraction, so whoever was watching the camera feeds for this room wouldn't realize what he was doing until it was already done. What would be interesting enough to every person that could be watching them?

"Jane!" he called over his shoulder once all his preparations were made. "Can you come over here?"

She was at his side within moments, waiting to hear whatever he had to say. He turned his head slightly and allowed his gaze to roam over her body slowly until his eyes met hers. He'd caught the look she'd been giving him in their room; the way her pupils had dilated as she looked at his half naked body had not gone unnoticed. He'd caught the scent of her arousal as he'd stood there holding her gaze and his body had instantly reacted. However, before he had the chance to act on any of the mental images his brain had shown him, her features had changed. She'd gone from aroused to near panic when she noticed the armor lying on his dresser.

"We're ready. I just need to send the data and the cameras will be down," he explained. "But we should probably cause some sort of distraction so they don't realize what we're doing until it's done."

"What?" Jane looked at him askance, confusion pushing her right eyebrow up toward her hairline.

"The cameras are still on right now. I don't want them to realize what we're doing," he murmured as he stood from his chair and crowded her body with his own.

"They probably already have, Garrus," she reminded him, that eyebrow moving higher as he wrapped his arms around her and lowered his face toward hers.

"I'm sure they didn't miss us suiting up in our bedroom," she said, the last of her sentence muffled against his mouth as he kissed her.

He rubbed his lip plates against her mouth, sliding the tip of his tongue against the seam of her lips, stroking the soft flesh as he slowly ran his hands down her back toward her ass. Cupping one firm cheek in each hand, he squeezed and lifted. When her mouth opened with a gasp, he slid his tongue home to tangle with hers. Her hands were sliding up his armored chest, he couldn't feel it—and damn did he wish he could—but he could feel the pressure of them against his chest plate. She wrapped her hands over the top ridge of his cowl and used the grip to hold on to him as he lifted her off the ground. He could feel the pressure of her fingers digging into the leather straps that formed to the ridge of bone and plates that ran around his shoulders and protected the back of his neck. Spirits, he hated this armor.

A low growl of frustration and arousal escaped him as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He shifted his grip, sliding his hands from her ass to her thighs to hold her up as she hitched her legs higher until they rested in the jut of his hips. This wasn't a usual position for turians as the leg spurs got in the way of a female resting her legs there, but as Jane's calves wrapped around his back, her boots thumping against the armor over his own posterior, he was thankful for his species evolution of slim waists and wide hips.

He dragged his mouth away from hers, sliding his plates—moist with her saliva—along her cheek until he reached her ear where he murmured, "The cameras in our room are always off."

"They are?" she gasped, pulling back from him as he set her on the desk.

He followed her as she moved back, keeping his head low and lips pressed to her neck as he lapped at the tender flesh. As he worked his way down toward her shoulder, he brought his hand up and peeled her jacket away so he could work.

"Mm-hmm," he murmured into her flesh. "For our privacy."

She giggled as his tongue tickled her. "I see, and whose idea was that?"

He chuckled deep in his chest as he reached to her right and tapped at the holographic keyboard in front of his console. He continued to kiss down her neck, using his free hand to slowly lower the zipper of her jacket but made sure that the strap of her holster stayed covered.

"It's sort of a long story," he murmured as he worked. "Liara thinks we should have the cameras, I think she's wrong; we compromised."

"Compromised?"

He worked his way back up her neck slowly as he tapped away, groaning softly against her skin as he ran his mandible along the delicate flesh; the heat of her body soaking into him. Giving up on the zipper, he reached behind her and fisted his hand in her hair. With a low growl, he yanked her head back at the same moment he pressed the final keystroke to crash the cameras.

"Got it," he murmured a hairsbreadth before his mouth crashed down on hers.

The kiss was not slow, nor was it sweet; it was hard and aggressive. It was a kiss from a male who was claiming his female. As his lip plates ground against her mouth, his tongue demanded entry, something she willingly gave. He growled in his chest as the hand that had been working at his console came up to the side of her face, taking control of her as he continued the kiss. He tilted her head to the side, deepening the kiss; swallowing the mewling gasps and moans that escaped Jane. He pulled away only when his need for oxygen became more than he could ignore.

Panting, he pressed his forehead to hers, the pressure more than he would normally use as he growled, "keep your head down tonight. I have plans for you later."

* * *

_Hey Liara,_

_Hope you're not too pissed that we crashed your cameras….haha! You deserve the small heart attack you're having right now._

Jane stopped typing on her omni-tool when the car stopped at the end of their driveway. She looked out her window, straining to see the house down the road where she knew Liara, James, and the rest of their security detail were staying. Were they currently scrambling? Were they panicking as they tried to figure out who or what crashed the security network at the Vakarian house? Her lips spread wide as she grinned at the idea of Liara and James frantically trying to figure out what had happened.

 _Serves them right,_  she thought to herself as she looked back down at her omni-tool. She reread what she'd written and sighed when she realized how passive-aggressive it sounded. She had so much she wanted to say to Liara but a message was not where she wanted to say it. When she gave Liara a piece of her mind, it would be to the asari's face. With a frustrated growl, she deleted everything she'd written. She was trying to formulate a different response when Garrus spoke up.

"I stuck to short and sweet," he said with a shrug. When she quirked an eyebrow in confusion he elaborated, "For the message I sent James. I stuck to short and sweet; time and place is all I told him. I also set it to send about five minutes after we're supposed to arrive."

"You sent a message to James," Jane repeated. "When?"

"I set it to send just before I crashed the cameras," he replied. "I mean, I'm sure we'll be fine but there's no reason not to have back up."

"We're being reckless but we're not idiots," she agreed. "They should at least know where we are."

"Exactly," he gave a curt nod in agreement.

"It was fun to scare them, but we may need their help," Jane continued.

"Right," he agreed again.

"So, short and sweet?"

"That's what I went with."

Short and sweet it would be, then, Jane decided as she looked back down at her omni-tool. She flicked open the holographic keyboard one more time and tapped out a quick message to Liara letting her know where they'd be and when, before hitting send.

"There," she chirped, flicking her wrist to close the omni-tool.

"Message sent?" Garrus asked, not looking away from the traffic in front of them.

"Yep. She will get it around the same time James gets his," Jane smirked. "I should feel bad about this, but I don't."

"Ha!" Garrus barked out. "And they should feel bad about not sharing most of their intel with us, but they obviously don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I found Liara's files on our situation while I was hacking her network," Garrus began slowly, choosing his words carefully. "It seems that yesterday, she got her hands on rumors that these "Purity for Palaven" members—"

"Purity for Palaven?" Jane interrupted him to ask.

"Oh, yeah, I found that, too, while I was snooping around. We thought they were just a small group of angry mercenaries or terrorists; looks like they've organized some sort of society," he explained nonchalantly. "And Liara and James felt they didn't need to tell us about it."

"Oh," Jane scoffed before remarking sarcastically. "That makes perfect sense."

Jane's gaze snapped over to Garrus when he let out a heavy sigh, his frame deflating as the air left his lungs. They came up to a traffic signal and he maneuvered the sky car into a complete stop, the vehicle idling quietly around them.

"What?" she asked, shocked by his sudden shift in mood.

"Nothing," he sighed again, fidgeting in his seat as he studied the controls in front of him.

"Garrus," she said, exasperated. "This isn't 'nothing.'"

"I'm just frustrated," he grumbled. "James is supposed to be my best friend. Why couldn't he talk to me?"

The traffic signal changed, indicating that they could continue on their intended path and Garrus busied himself with the controls of the car for a moment before continuing.

"I mean, I can  _almost_  understand not discussing this with you— _almost_ —but not me. More than James or Liara or any of the others, it is  _my_ duty to care for and protect you; I should have been informed. I should have been kept in the loop."

"Setting aside that very chauvinistic attitude for just a moment," Jane responded, her eyebrows pulled low as she glared at the side of his face. "I can see where you're coming from."

"It's not chauvinistic," Garrus argued. "You're my mate and you're pregnant with our child; your welfare and well-being are my top priority. I'm a turian, Jane. We care for our females—especially when they're in your condition."

"Again with the 'condition' comments," she groused.

"Dammit, woman," he growled playfully. "I'm trying to be angry at James."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she snickered as she sat back against the seat and folded her hands over her stomach. "Go on," she waved her hand to indicate he should continue. "Don't let me stop your tirade."

"Thank you!" Garrus huffed indignantly and she giggled when he opened his mouth to continue his rant but nothing came out.

"Lose your train of thought?" she teased.

"You distracted me," he sighed dramatically. "It's gone. All gone!"

She reached over, patting his arm lightly in an attempt to be soothing. "I'm sorry, love. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

She howled with laughter when he looked over to her momentarily, his brow plates wiggling comically.

"Is there anything I can do, in this moment, to make it up to you?" she asked between giggles.

With a sad sigh, his shoulders drooped as he answered, "No, not really."

She patted his arm again, stroking her hand along the smooth armor there, before pulling her hand back to her side of the car. They sat in companionable quiet for a few minutes, and Jane smiled to herself as she enjoyed just being near him. It had been barely a week since their fight, but it felt so much longer. It was unbelievable how many of the little things about their relationship that she'd taken for granted until that fight; when they were no longer talking to each other she missed this banter. She missed teasing him and watching his mandibles flare. She'd missed the way he'd try to wiggle his brow plates like a human wiggled their eyebrows.

"I missed this, Jane," his voice rumbling quietly through the cabin of the car pulled her back from her thoughts. "Of all the things people would have expected me to miss when we were estranged, this was the most significant."

She'd missed it too. There was more intimacy in the way they teased each other. The way they lived to make the other laugh, than most couples shared when in bed, naked, together. He complimented her; the way he worked, the way he fought, the way he thought, it all complimented her. Even though they'd been in the same house for all of their time apart, they had barely spoken to each other and they had gone to great lengths to not be in the same room together for more than absolutely necessary—well at least she had.

"You missed suiting up and walking into obviously violent situations, too?" she asked, smirking at him.

He chanced looking away from the road to shoot her a disbelieving look of his own which she met with an innocent smile and shrugged shoulders. He had to know, there was no way he didn't, that she was being dense on purpose. She loved him, but at this moment, when she was using every ounce of her mental strength to keep her demons locked away so that the panic attack climbing up her throat wouldn't break free. She couldn't think about what was riding on tonight. In a small corner of her logical brain, she knew the stakes; she just couldn't focus on them.

With a small shake of his head, he turned his attention back to driving. It started as a slight tremor, barely discernable to the naked eye if they didn't know what they were looking for, and then his good mandible began to flutter. He shook his head again, looking up to the ceiling of the sky car as he whispered a prayer to the Spirits to give him strength. She watched him, her smile growing as the seconds ticked by. That mandible was off his cheek now, his face split into a true grin as the chuckle began low in his chest. At first, she could only feel the low bass of his voice as it vibrated through the air. As the sound worked its way free of his chest, it became a barking laugh; a full bodied chuckle followed.

He knew.

"Yes, nothing makes me hotter than watching you strap a gun to your hip," he drawled drolly.

It was her turn to laugh as his dry sarcasm washed over her. He knew and he understood. She needed them to keep the conversation light and sarcastic. She needed to drown her fears and anxiety in humor so for a small moment she could act like they weren't about to do something totally stupid. Her throat tightened as she counted her blessings and sent a quick prayer out into the universe, thanking whoever was watching over her for bringing Garrus into her life.

Coughing lightly, she pushed past the lump in her throat to ask, "What were we talking about before this love-fest began? Didn't you mention cracking into Liara's intelligence network while you were crashing the camera feeds?"

"You mean before I went off on a tangent and got angry because Vega is a secret keeping, lying, bastard?" Garrus clarified. That one brow plate was still quirked toward his fringe and his mandible was flicked out slightly in a small crooked smile.

"Yeah, before then," Jane agreed. "If you found anything interesting or relevant in Liara's piles of information, I'd like to know. We'll be at the bar soon."

"Right," Garrus gave a sharp nod of his head, returning to the business at hand. "I found a lot of interesting information, but I'll stick to what's relevant for this evening.

"Purity for Palaven started small, just a few angry dissidents protesting our mating; prior to my appointment to primarch. They were considered just extremists. Now, however, they're gaining a following. They are almost cultish in the way they've conformed to the old laws. Liara still doesn't know who they answer to, but she's got feelers out and is working to infiltrate their organization."

His demeanor changed as he switched from being her playful husband to the competent soldier he'd always been.

"There was a quick note tagged for follow up," he continued. "Apparently there is a rumor of another attack being planned for some time in the next few days; however, Liara has not been able to confirm its validity."

"Wonder why she didn't mention it to anyone," Jane wondered quietly.

"I'm sure she mentioned it to James, at least; he did make sure to move more ammo up to the house "just in case" we needed to hold our own until they arrived," Garrus reminded her.

"True," Jane agreed with a sharp nod. She digested the information that Garrus had relayed, more questions than answers popping up as she worked through everything.

"Was there any mention of Alorus Thractis?" Jane asked.

"No," Garrus shook his head. "There was absolutely no mention of anyone by that name. Liara has been very thorough—keeping tabs on past acquaintances that were not happy with our mating or could be used against us."

"So he's a complete unknown," Jane summed up.

"As far as I could find, Liara has no idea about this person or why he'd want to contact us."

"Definitely a trap," Jane murmured under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest and began to tap her lips with the index finger on her right hand. "What's in this for him to gain? What does he get from luring us out into the open?"

"If he's part of this Purity for Palaven cult then luring us out into the open is his payment. They'll have us," Garrus answered her quietly spoken questions. He knew she'd been talking to herself, but they were the same questions he'd been asking himself since reading Liara's information.

The car slowed as he pulled into a deserted parking lot about a block away from the bar. He stopped the vehicle, killing the engine without regard to where or how he was parked and turned to face Jane. She could read the hesitation in his eyes, the nervousness in the tension on his features; he was about to say something she wouldn't like.

"Look, Jane," he began. "Neither of us knows what's going to happen tonight. The only thing we know, for certain, is that something is off; something is wrong. Let me call in the rest of the crew; you can go back to the house and I won't be walking into this alone. I'll make sure you're briefed on the whole situation when I'm back."

Definitely something she didn't like. Logically, she knew he was right but as he spoke, as he suggested sending her home—away from him—she felt the bands of fear and panic wrap around her chest. With every breath she took the bands tightened, squeezing until she was sure her ribs would crack from the pressure. Her stomach flipped, the quiver of anxiety settling low in her abdomen.

"No," Jane shook her head vehemently. "It's not just about making sure I have all the information; I can't—" Jane stopped, her chest heaving as she gasped and gulped in a breath. "I can't sit at home worrying about you—" she leaned forward, the heels of her hands pressing hard into her eyes as she scrubbed at her face. This panic attack was coming on faster than any she'd had before. "I can't explain this, Garrus. I know that I'm nothing but a liability to you if this turns into a complete shit storm, but the thought of you being here alone—of me not being here—literally tears me apart inside. I can't breathe, I can't think, my heart is pounding out of my chest at just the thought of you going in there without me."

"Jane," he reached for her, stretching across the center console to wrap his arms around her awkwardly as she let her head fall onto his bicep. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

* * *

He held her as best he could as she panted and whimpered in his arms. She was rubbing her sternum, gasping and clenching at the cloth covering her chest as though she were in pain. It killed him to know that she was hurting and there was nothing he could do except hold her. Bullet wounds and bruises could be treated simply, but no amount of medi-gel would heal the damage done to her by that fucking war. Even years later, after hours of therapy and hundreds of sessions with her therapist, she still suffered from nightmares—waking in the middle of the night, screaming as tears ran down her face. He'd hold her then, stroking her back and begging the Spirits to give him her pain.

Therapy had helped with her day to day waking hours. While they were still stationed on the Normandy, she'd been able to do her job. She'd moved through missions and taken a team groundside without having a breakdown. Knowing that, Garrus wasn't able to pinpoint what about this situation was different. He didn't have time to try to muddle through this. He needed her to talk to him and explain why she was so adamant, to the point of ignoring her pregnancy, to be here with him tonight.

"I'd love to try to work through this myself and have the great big 'ah-ha' moment, but we don't have a lot of time," he began as he leaned over and rested his temple against her hair. "So could you please clue your big, slow, mate in? What's different about tonight than any of the other possibly dangerous and life threatening missions we've gone on since the war?"

"That  _we've_  been on," she gasped in a breath to answer him, her voice shaky. "Us, you and I; you haven't gone ground side since the war without me at your side."

He pulled back to stare down at the top of her head as it dawned on him that she was right. He hadn't left the Normandy—except for one time to visit Victus on the Citadel—without Jane at his side. Banquets, balls, and other generally annoying political bullshit—she was at his side; ground missions—she was at his side. Even that one covert cluster fuck of a personal mission for Victus she'd been with him. How had he not noticed this pattern. She tilted her head, sitting straighter in her seat and facing him. His confusion must have been obvious on his features because before he could say anything she began to talk.

"You're trying to figure out why," she stated. "Why was I always with you but you weren't always with me? The short of it—my safety has never meant as much to me as yours."

He opened his mouth to point out that her safety was all that mattered to him, though. That he would take another rocket if it meant keeping her safe, but she held her hand up, silencing him before he could say anything.

"I know, you feel the same way about me." The words fell from her mouth in a rush. "It's not that I don't know that, Garrus. It's just that…" she trailed off and turned to stare down at her stomach. "I can't explain this feeling inside me. I've never been reckless with myself for the sake of recklessness; I've always tried to be careful. I know you're the same. Logically, I know you wouldn't do something stupid, but the thought of you being here without me covering your six causes me physical pain. It's why I lied to you in London; it's why I've found a way to be on every single mission you've gone on since the war ended."

Her gaze met his and he swallowed hard at the raw emotion he saw in her emerald depths. Through the sheen of tears that she was trying hard to ignore, he saw fear and frustration, sincerity and love.

"I can't stand to lose you, Garrus," she whispered. "If something happens tonight and I'm not here…" her voice broke and the tears she'd been battling back finally fell.

He cupped her cheek, wiping the tears as his subharmonics crooned to her. She couldn't hear them, but maybe some part of her could feel them and they would calm her.

"Okay," he acquiesced. "We'll go forward with this plan—against all logical arguments not to—but if anything goes bad I need you to promise me you'll get the hell out of there. Don't wait for me,"—another gentle caress across her cheek—"do  _not_  pull any of that heroic Commander Shepard shit,"—he turned his hand, running the backs of his knuckles down her cheek and neck—"just turn and run."

He cupped her jaw in his hand and waited for her to show him that she understood. He needed her to promise him she'd think of her and the baby's welfare over his own. As he waited, he made a mental note to speak to her therapist because this reckless behavior to protect him was stemming from something deeper; something she had to get a handle on before he found himself leaving for Palaven.

Jane's gaze darted to the right as she spoke, "I'll try."

"No," Garrus nudged her, bringing her eyes back to his. "That's not good enough."

"Garrus," she started her voice quivering as she tried to project an air of authority. "We don't have time for this."

"We have all the time in the world. I won't start this car back up until you give me what I want."

"We're going to be late—"

"To a trap. Oh, damn," he cut her off, his tone dry and sarcastic. "That probably doesn't look good—a Primarch should be prompt—but I think being late to possible death can be forgiven."

"Garrus," she tried again but he pressed a finger to her lips before she could say more.

"Two words, Jane," he murmured. "Three if you want to make it personal. 'I promise, Garrus.' That's all I want."

She glared at him and he watched the muscle at the side of her jaw jump and pulse as she ground her back molars together. He was cornering her and he knew it. Jane was a woman of her word, always had been. If she promised to keep herself safe at all costs, she would, and that was why she hadn't promised him anything—yet. He waited quietly, his gaze never leaving hers. They were at a stalemate—one he planned to win. He was a sniper, known for his patience. If he could sit in mud and muck with bugs crawling on him for hours while waiting for a target, he could handle sitting in a car waiting for his mate to agree to his terms. She growled, the sound coming from low in her chest and ripping out of her throat as she yanked her face away from his hand. He smirked at the sound; some days she was more turian than he.

"I am making this promise under duress," she stipulated as she turned and sat in her seat correctly. "But, yes, Garrus. I promise to think of myself and the baby and to not pull any of that 'heroic Commander Shepard shit.'"

He straightened in his seat as the smirk tugging on his mandibles turned into a full blown smile. He'd gotten all he was asking for and more—she'd mentioned the baby. Somewhere in that hard-headed brain was a logical woman—granted he hadn't married her because she was logical. He started the car and exited the parking lot, maneuvering them back into traffic gracefully. As they cruised along, he reached across the center console and patted her arm.

"There, now was that so difficult?"

"Don't press your luck, Vakarian," she snarled back, though she patted his hand where it rested on her arm, squeezing his digits to let him know they were still a team, even if she was angry.

He hummed quietly to himself, happy with the concession he'd won, as they pulled into the parking lot of Gilhouley's. He found them a suitable parking spot in a well-lit area and cut the engine once more. Jane was reaching for the door handle when his hand moved from her arm to her distended stomach.

"Keep your mama safe," Garrus ordered their unborn son as he patted her stomach. "If she's going to do something stupid, kick her. You have my permission and I'll deal with her later, I promise."

"Garrus!" Jane gasped, gawking at him, though there was mirth dancing in her eyes. "Is this how it's going to be? Can I expect a coup once he's born?"

"I figure he's inside you, he'll know before I do if you try to pull some heroic shit," Garrus explained with an innocent shrug of his shoulders. He exited his side of the car and jogged around to her side where he helped her out of the vehicle. "I'll take all the help I can get when it comes to keeping you two safe."

He threw his arm over her shoulders and she wrapped hers around his waist as they made their way toward the entrance of the bar. On the outside, they seemed like a couple simply going to the pub for the evening, a closer look showed they were much more cognizant of their surroundings.

"Looks like he's our turian," Jane whispered.

Garrus followed Jane's gaze, seeing the turian leaning against the wall next to the door of the pub. He had one knee bent, his booted foot pressed against the wall behind him while he examined his talons. He was just outside the pool of light from the lamp beside the door, making it nearly impossible for Garrus to see the male's face. They were stepping up onto the sidewalk that ran around the pub when the turian finally moved.

"You're late," he said as he came closer to them. "Not like this place is hard to get into, but I'm on a time table."

"Sorry," Garrus began. He didn't like the other turian's tone and let his subharmonics snap out, telling the male just what he thought of his tone.

"I made him stop," Jane added, rubbing her hand against the bulge at her middle. "I swear I can't go more than ten minutes without needing a bathroom."

The other turian cocked an eyebrow in Jane's direction, taking her in from head to toe. His eyes lingered on her stomach for a moment before it moved back to her face.

"That you'd mated a human was one thing, but I didn't realize you'd bred with her too," the turian's voice carried shock and confusion but none of the disdain that Jane and Garrus were accustomed to.

"That's a long story," Garrus hedged. "Why don't we get seated and then we can catch up?"

* * *

"Cover!" Jane barked over the din of gunfire and screams of innocent bystanders. She lobbed the smoke grenade she'd stolen from one of their attackers over the bar before tucking her upper body around her stomach.

"Jane!" Garrus' voice came through the bud in her ear in stereo as he called out to her from a few feet away. "Didn't we agree—"

"Yeah, yeah!" she called back. "No heroic shit, I know!"

"You knew this was going to happen?" Thractis squawked from Jane's right as he hovered in cover, his shirt pulled up over the bottom half of his face to protect against the smoke grenade's fumes. "And you came anyway?!"

"If you want something done right," Jane began, her lips pulling up into a sarcastic smirk under the collar of her jacket. "You gotta do it yourself."

"You're pregnant!" Thractis barked as though those two words explained everything.

"Christ almighty!" Jane cursed. "You turians are quite the observant bunch."

"Don't mind her," Garrus explained as he crawled along the side of the bar until he was next to Jane. "The baby makes her cranky."

He turned his attention away from Thractis as he moved to crouch in front of Jane. He inspected her visually, looking for any wounds. She had a cut below her left eye where a bullet had grazed her as she ran for cover and she had her right hand pressed tightly against the bicep of her left arm.

"Let me see," he crooned, prying her hand away from her arm. He cursed when blood poured from the wound and pressed her hand back where she'd had it. "Hold that tight—"

"What the hell do you think I was doing?" Jane snapped, cutting him off.

"—tightly while I find something to tie it off with." Garrus finished, ignoring her outburst.

Jane gritted her teeth and pressed her head back against the wood of the bar behind her as she listened to Garrus crawling through the broken glass around them. Cabinet doors were opened and slammed closed quickly as he searched for anything he could use to staunch the blood flow from the wound on her arm. What she wouldn't give for the fancy medical interface she had in her old armor.

Garrus returned to her side, prying her hand away once again to press a folded bar towel slathered with medi-gel into the wound. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, the air hissing as the 'gel went to work, causing her arm to sting and tingle. He met her gaze as he pressed her hand against the towel, working quickly and efficiently to tear another towel into strips that could be secured around her arm.

"I wasn't being heroic," she said just loud enough for him to hear. "I was just sitting at the table—the first shot hit my arm."

"I know," he spoke just as quietly, thankful for her cybernetically enhanced hearing. They worked together as he maneuvered the first strip into place, winding it around her arm quickly and snugly securing it in place.

"That'll hold 'til backup gets here," Garrus assured her as he finished tying the knot. "Assuming they're coming."

"They'll be here," Jane assured him.


	17. Chapter 16

The sounds of food preparation, clanking dishes, and the quick hiss and snick of the refrigerator door being opened then closed could be heard in the small office where Zaeed sat watching the surveillance feeds from the Vakarian home. It was dinner time for their merry band of misfits and, if he remembered correctly, tonight was Jack's night to cook. The little biotic cannonball was a whiz with a chef's knife; cooking was a secret passion of hers, a sordid little detail that only he knew about his tattooed lover.

He kept his good eye on the monitors in front of him,and watched closely as the camera feeds flickered through the cameras in Jane and Garrus' house and yard. There was a quick rap of knuckles against the door frame and he turned away from the monitors to see Jack leaning against the wood, a plate of food in her grasp.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Starving," he responded.

He let his eyes roam along her body, taking her in from head to toe. His gaze hovered at her waist and the swell of her hips. She was wearing jeans, the denim riding low and hugging her. The button gleamed just below her naval in the filtered light of dusk that came through the window behind him. She let out a low, husky chuckle as she pushed away from the door frame and moved across the room.

"I know that look," she smirked as she set a plate down on the desk and straddled his lap.

"What look?" he asked coyly as he scooted forward in the chair, allowing her to settle more firmly on his lap. His hands rested on her thighs, stroking her through the fabric of her pants.

"That smug look you've got on your ugly puss right now," she answered, and though her words were rough, her tone was softer than she used with anyone else. "You better knock that shit off, Massani, or people will start to think you're happy."

"Happy?" He snorted as his hands came around to cup her ass, giving the globes a firm squeeze which elicited a soft squeak from her. She made the most contradictory noises. She cussed like some of the saltiest mercenaries he knew, but then would squeak or gasp or even giggle like a school girl when his hands were on her.

"Love, I've got a beautiful woman on my lap and I'm getting regular sex. I think I'm more than just happy. I might be ecstatic."

Another one of those low chuckles escaped her as she wriggled on his lap. Her body inching up his thighs as her hot center moved closer to his cock which was currently tapping against the fly of his pants impatiently. Hushed conversation came through the bud in his ear, some conversation between Garrus and Jane. While some of the others were more than willing to listen to them when watching the surveillance feeds, Zaeed was not one of them. He kept the volume turned as low as he could without muting it completely as his way of giving them some sort of privacy. He could hear just enough to know the tone of the conversation. Between that and what was showing on the cameras he was able to judge what was going on.

He swiveled his chair so that Jack's back was to the desk and he would be able to watch the monitors over her shoulder as she leaned toward him. Her lips touched his chin, her tongue flicking out to lick a scar along the edge of his jaw as she moved toward his neck. As she worked, he watched Garrus pin Jane to his own desk.

"Atta boy," Zaeed murmured as he watched the turian work.

"Hmm?" Jack murmured in his ear, her teeth latching on to his ear lobe.

"Garrus and Jane," Zaeed explained. Jack released his ear and turned to look at the monitors.

"Get him, Jane," she cheered quietly before turning back to him. She reached her hand back to the keyboard on the desk, her fingers poised over the holographic keys as she ran her free hand through his hair. "Why don't we give them some privacy?"

As if on cue, the screen he'd been watching cut out, static filling every inch where only moments before a slide show of camera views had been flickering along its surface.

"Bloody 'ell!" he spat, sitting up quickly and almost flinging Jack from her perch on his lap. "Sorry, love," he said hastily as he let go of her body, twisting his torso so he could work around her. He tapped away at the keyboard cursing under his breath as he tried to get the video feeds back.

"What the bloody 'ell did you do?" he snarled.

"What?"

"What did you do?" he asked more slowly as he input command after command trying to get the feeds back. "One second they're there; the next 'ere gone."

"I didn't fuckin' do anything," Jack snapped as she climbed off his lap.

"If you didn't fuckin' do anything they'd still be there," he growled as he gestured sharply to the screens in front of him.

"I didn't press anything," she repeated, enunciating each word slowly. "I had my hand on the keys but I didn't press anything."

"Go get T'soni," he barked. "This is her goddamn system, maybe she can fix it."

* * *

"...Once I had the necklace I walked back out of the bedroom, blew a kiss to the guard, and slipped into the crowd without anyone realizing I'd just robbed the man blind," Kasumi said smugly gesturing with her fork as she regaled the group around the dining room table with another story about her illustrious career as a thief.

"But how did you get into the bedroom?" Steve asked leaning toward Kasumi, his dinner completely forgotten in front of him.

With a smile that wasn't quite as big and eyes that were suddenly clouded with sadness, she explained, "That was all Keiji. He came up with the idea that we should play lovers so enthralled with each other that we just couldn't wait until we got home to ravish one another. I have to say, playing that part wasn't very difficult and with a few credits slipped into the right guards' hands-under the table of course-we were home free."

Liara watched as Kasumi looked down at her dinner and stabbed at the food, slowly and meticulously moving the pieces around on her plate. The young thief's whole demeanor had changed the moment she mentioned Keiji. Liara looked away as a tear slowly slid down Kasumi's cheek and landed on her plate. Steve coughed quietly as he turned back to his meal. Each person at the table looking away in a paltry attempt to give the young woman her privacy while she mourned the loss of her lover.

"T'soni!" Jack's voice broke the awkward silence in the dining room. Liara looked up to see the woman standing in the doorway of the small den just off the living room, her eyes wild and frantic.

"Get in here," she barked, waving Liara toward her.

Liara tossed her napkin down next to her plate and shoved herself away from the table. As she came closer to Jack, the woman explained that something had happened to the surveillance system.

"I swear," Jack said again. "Neither of us pressed anything."

Liara lifted an eyebrow skeptically as she took a seat in the desk chair Zaeed had abandoned. "If no one pressed anything, then where did the feed go? This is a similar system to the one I use across the galaxy, it's impenetrable."

"Nothing is impenetrable," Kasumi piped up from just outside the den where she loomed behind Jack. "I should know. I've broken into vaults that claimed to be impenetrable. There's always a way through, sometimes you just have to be creative."

Liara turned momentarily, glaring at Kasumi until the younger woman revised what she'd said. "Then again, there's always a first time for everything. I'm sure that this is just a momentary glitch and you'll be able to fix it, Liara."

"Of course I can fix it," Liara snapped as she turned back to the screen. "There is a redundancy fail safe built into the system. It'll take me only a few moments to switch the system to the back up and we'll be back online."

"Tried it," Zaeed said. "It was the first thing I did."

"Are you sure you typed the command in properly?"

"I may be a lowly merc, but I ain't stupid," Zaeed growled.

"I meant no offense," Liara apologized quickly. "I just meant-"

"You just meant that I'd fuck up something simple," Zaeed answered for her. "But I didn't."

"That's not what I meant, at all!" Liara gasped, standing up and turning to face the old mercenary. She gaped, her mouth working to force words past her anger. Finally, she succeeded and said, "Mistakes are easy to make when you're rushing or panicking."

"I didn't make any bloody mistakes," Zaeed reiterated, taking a step toward Liara, his arms tense at his side. "And you'd do well to stop insinuating that I did."

"Alright!" James' voice boomed through the room as he shoved past Jack and Kasumi who were still loitering in the doorway. He stepped close to the mercenary, pressing a hand against the man's chest as he shoved him toward the door. "Z, why don't you go outside and have a smoke while Liara works."

Zaeed stood there a moment longer as though he was contemplating continuing the argument before he finally conceded and stepped around James and left the den. Once he was out of the room, Liara turned back toward the screens and began to work. She blocked out James as he shoved everyone else out of the room and shut the door.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded once they were alone. "We have a situation here; the camera feeds are completely black right now. Why would you think this was a good time to fight with Zaeed about procedure?"

"I needed to know what he'd done to try to rectify the situation," Liara explained flippantly as she continued to work. She didn't have time for an interrogation from James. "He was the one who got defensive the second I asked a question."

"You didn't ask a question, Li. You accused the man of screwing up a button press," James pointed out. "We all know that all you have to do is press this button here"-he reached over her shoulder at tapped the key on the holographic interface to make his point- "to prompt the system to switch to the back up feeds. It's pretty hard to screw that up; an untrained pyjak could figure it out."

"Then why are we still staring at static?" Liara asked snidely.

James sighed heavily before trying to reach Liara again. "Look, sweetheart, we're all a little on edge right now; that information you found just before we came over here has everyone spooked. No one wants anything to happen to Jane, Garrus, or the baby, but we can't hover over them constantly. They have issues and problems they need to work out. Our presence there gave them a reason to not even look at each other, much less talk to each other. If it's just the two of them rattling around in that house they'll eventually have to talk to each other. All we can do, now, is wait..."

"...and pray that this is nothing more than a technical problem," Liara finished for him.

"Whatever it is, we'll handle it. First thing, though, we need those feeds working again."

"I'm doing everything I can, James," she reminded him.

"I'm going to get out of your way so you can work. While you figure this out, I'll get a small team over there to discreetly make sure they stay safe."

He turned away from her and left the room, the door sliding closed behind him quietly.

* * *

"Faringham, Cadence, Jones!" James barked out the names of the Marines that Admiral Hackett had assigned to the Vakarian security team. "Suit up!"

"Aye, sir," Jones returned. "What are our orders?"

"I need you to go over to the Vakarian's and keep an eye on the property. You are not to make contact unless absolutely necessary. At this time we're assuming the feeds are down due to a technical problem and there is no need to interrupt their privacy. Keep to the perimeter and check in with someone here every five minutes, lieutenant."

"Aye, sir," Jones snapped off a salute before turning about and heading toward the make shift armory housed in the garage. As he passed them, he gestured for Lieutenants Faringham and Cadence to follow him.

"You want me to shadow them?" Kasumi asked from behind James, her tactical cloak shimmering as it dissipated.

"Dios mio, Goto!" James cursed as she startled him. "Do you ever  _not_ sneak up on someone?"

"Sometimes," she shrugged, grinning cheekily at him. "Now, do you want me to shadow them?"

James shook his head, "No, they can handle this. I want you to stay here, but be ready, if Liara isn't able to get those feeds back soon we'll be heading out."

Kasumi saluted sarcastically before turning away from James and heading to her quarters.

"And stay out of Liara's way," James called after her.

He shook his head as Kasumi waved her hand at him over her shoulder; the thief didn't even turn around to acknowledge him. He probably should have been miffed at her obvious nonchalance, but he was becoming used to her flippant attitude toward everyone-especially those whom could be considered her superiors.

Heaving a sigh through his nose, James turned in a slow circle where he stood and looked for Zaeed and Jack. Where could they have gotten off to? He hadn't lost that much time talking to Liara and issuing orders; they couldn't have gone too far. He was about to head toward the basement where he knew they were both bunked, when he felt the telltale sign of a biotic shockwave vibrate the flooring under his boots a moment before a flash of violet streaked past the patio door.

"Found you," he murmured to himself as he stepped toward the sliding glass door to let himself out onto the patio.

He watched the couple as he crossed the deck and leaned against the railing. Zaeed was leaning against a scraggly tree, puffing on a cigar, one knee bent, his boot up against the trunk of the tree. Jack stomped around him, her arms swinging wildly in large, full bodied gestures as she spoke. He watched this for a few minutes, waiting until the young biotic calmed down before he pushed himself away from the railing and stepped into the back yard.

"Is it safe for me to approach?" he called as he walked closer to the couple.

"Debatable," Zaeed answered. "Though I don't think either of us is going to shoot you."

"Speak for yourself, old man," Jack growled before turning on James. Her lip was curled in disgust as she confronted him. "You've got a lot of nerve coming out here after what happened in there."

James picked the next tree over from Zaeed's and mirrored the mercenary's pose.

"Look, Liara was out of line. There's no doubt about that but what do you want me to do? Should I take her away from that system to tear her a new one and make her apologize to you?"

"Yes!"

"She's the only one who can run that security system and at this moment we don't have eyes or ears in that house over there," James reminded Jack as he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, pointing toward the Vakarian home. "They could be watching a movie and not realize the feeds are down  _or_  they could be under attack and we don't know it."

"So?" Jack asked. "It's Garrus and Jane, they can handle themselves."

"A year ago, sure, but not right now. Most of the work would fall on Garrus. Jane can't get into another hand to hand fight-not without risking the baby's life. She can't use her biotics because of the repression amp. She's practically useless in a real firefight," James reminded Jack.

"Remind me again how us bein' here instead of over there is a good idea," Zaeed asked. "'Cause from where I'm standin', it doesn't seem like havin' everyone clear out was the best bloody idea."

"They need the time alone," James reiterated. It was starting to feel like he was the only one who believed Alitus when the older turian said that his son needed to be alone with Jane. "They've been using us as a reason to avoid each other. Now that we're gone, they'll have no choice but to work out their problems."

"Or maybe it's just over," Jack shrugged. "Maybe he fucked up and she just can't forgive him."

"Either way, the only way they'd know for sure was if we cleared out and removed their excuses for avoiding each other."

* * *

Just a few more key strokes and she'd have the video system back up and running. She fought with the blocks as she emptied out the excessive amounts of junk code that were bogging down the security system. Two minutes later she had the video feed looping on the screen. Another two minutes and the audio returned as well.

"There!"

She clapped her hands together, excited that she'd been able to bring the dead system back to life. For sure, it wasn't something that Zaeed or Jack had done that had caused the system to crash. She was going to have to apologize for her horrid behavior. How many years of working closely with humans- well with anyone, really- and she still fumbled socially when under any amount of stress or pressure.

Liara watched the feed as it cycled through the cameras in the Vakarian household. The images on the screen flicked from the kitchen to the dining room then living room, each room empty and dark. She stamped down the worry that was trying to surface, there were a lot of other rooms in the house and she was sure she'd see them. The cameras changed every ten seconds, moving from the living room to the bedrooms and hallway. Still, there was no sign of them. She swallowed down the fear that was suddenly tightening her throat. Where were they? Next up was the basement- empty- and then the garage, empty. Were they outside?

She switched to the outdoor cameras. She saw the three alliance Marines that James had sent over to watch the house but there were no signs of Jane or Garrus. What had happened? Where were they? Had they simply been moving through the house and stayed ahead of the cameras? Was that even possible? She switched back to the inner feeds and cycled through them again, and then once more, and still there was no sign of Jane or Garrus. In a full panic, Liara shoved herself away from the computer and rushed out of the office.

"James! Jack! Zaeed!" she called their names, searching the room frantically.

"Liara?" James spoke from the patio door. He was huffing slightly, a sign that he'd run from somewhere. "What's wrong?"

"They're gone!" Liara gasped. "They are not in the house at all."

"Gone?" Zaeed asked from behind James.

"Yes, gone. I watched the feed three times and I haven't seen any signs of them. They're not in the house and they're not outside. They're gone!"

James flicked his left wrist, bringing his omni-tool to life just before keying in the radio and connecting to the Marines he'd sent to Jane and Garrus' property.

"You have permission to move into the house. Jane and Garrus are missing. Find them!"

Once he was done giving them their orders, he closed his omni-tool and gestured for Jack and Zaeed to head to the garage.

"Suit up. We're heading over there."

When they were out of the room he turned toward Liara. "Is there any chance you can pull up the last thing recorded before the feeds died or is there anything that may have been caught while the feeds were down?"

"There might be some information cached in the short term memory of the system."

"Can you pull that information up?"

Liara wrung her hands as she thought.

"I'm not sure…maybe," she answered.

"I need you to try, love," James coaxed. "We need to know what happened."

Liara nodded and turned back to the small office where the surveillance equipment was set up, James following close behind her. Situating herself at the desk, she started the slow process of retrieving the cached information. The tension in the room was suffocating as she worked. It seemed like both she and James were holding their breath as she typed in the final command and prayed that the cached information was available. After a long, tense moment the screen came to life. They watched as Jane and Garrus snuggled on the couch, a vid playing on the screen in front of them.

"Well, it looks like everything was calm before the feeds went down," James commented.

"But what happened? There's no one in the house now," Liara reminded him.

The video continued to play and they watched it intently hoping to figure out what had happened to Jane and Garrus. They were sitting on the couch and every few moments Jane would reach up and rub her hand across her stomach.

"Those sneaky fuckers!" James cursed from behind her causing Liara to jump.

"What?"

"It's a loop! They fed a loop into the feeds," James explained. "Watch Jane," he pointed to the screen. "Every minute and a half she rubs her hand over her stomach. Every ninety seconds, exactly."

Liara squinted at the screen and watched as the video played. Jane rubbed a small circle on her stomach before adjusting herself against Garrus. Liara watched the timer as the seconds ticked by. Sure enough, ninety seconds later Jane rubbed the exact same circle on the exact same spot on her stomach before adjusting herself against Garrus again.

"Oh Goddess," Liara whispered as she realized that James was right. "Who would do this? How did they get Jane and Garrus to go along with it?"

"Do you really think that someone forced them to feed a loop into the camera's cache?" James asked skeptically.

"Who else would do it?" Liara asked.

James stared at her for long moments as he waited for the truth to dawn on her.

"No!" she gasped. "They wouldn't!"

James looked pointedly at the screen which was still playing the looped video. "It appears that they did."

"Hey!" Jack called from the living room. "What's the hold up?"

James turned away from Liara and stepped into the doorway to talk to Jack.

"They're gone."

"Gone?" Zaeed asked.

"Yes. They flew the coop. They fed a loop into the surveillance feeds, crashed the system, and left."

"You don't know that that's the case," Liara said from behind him. "All we know is that there is a video loop saved in the cache. We don't know if they set that up. There is a chance they had nothing to do with that."

"If they had been attacked, wouldn't they have contacted us?" James turned on her to ask.

Liara opened her mouth to rebut him, ready to point out that there was a chance the communications had gone down at the same time the feeds died and that's why they hadn't contacted the security team. The ping of an incoming message on James' omnitool cut her off before she could express her opinion however. He activated his omni-tool and was just opening the new message when her omni-tool pinged as well.

"I am going to kill that turian," James ground out through gritted teeth as he closed the interface on his omni-tool. "They flew the coop."

He stormed past Jack and Zaeed who were standing in the middle of the living room slack-jawed at the violent reaction from James as the man flung the garage door open hard enough to make the hinges whine in protest. He slammed it closed behind him as he stepped out of the house.

Kasumi's entrance into the living room brought everyone out of their trance as the thief asked, "What's going on out here? Why all the slamming doors?"

Liara's voice was flat, emotionless from the shock she was feeling after reading the message she'd received from Jane as she answered Kasumi. "We think Jane and Garrus disabled the surveillance feeds so they could leave the house without us knowing it. They're at Gilhouley's."


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is the last of the chapters that I already have written. The next chapters are going to be slower to be posted, but they will be posted.   
> If you'd like, I have a tumblr with the same name (N7GVLVR) where I've been posting a one shot about a different Shepard and a particular piece of exercise equipment. That is in the works between homework, work, and children. I have also been writing between calls at work on this and hopefully I'll have the next chapter finished in the near future.

"This doesn't look like a beach," Jane called over the comm unit as she ducked into the women's bathroom.

"I'm sorry," Garrus answered.

"You promised me sand, Garrus." She pressed the release on her gun, ejecting the spent thermal clip with her right hand as she dug in her pocket with her left and retrieved a new thermal clip.

"We're supposed to be enjoying sun and sand while living off the royalties from the movie they made about us after the war."

"You were the one who wanted to stay near London, remember?" Garrus pointed out.

Bullets slammed into the door frame sending splinters flying all around Jane as she slid the new thermal clip into her pistol and chambered the first round. She leaned back against the wall, taking a moment to catch her breath and calm her racing heart as she waited for a chance to return fire. The baby rolled, kicking against her ribs while she waited, letting her know that he was still there and doing just fine.

As if he could tell that the baby had just moved Garrus' voice came through the bud in her ear. "How are you two doing, Jane?"

"We're fine, Garrus. Your son is having the time of his unborn life. He's been rolling and kicking excitedly ever since the first shot."

Thractis' flanging voice came through the comm, cutting off their conversation. "Are you sure that's a good sign?"

"Moving babies are happy babies," Garrus and Jane answered in unison.

Picking up their earlier conversation as she leaned around what remained of the door frame, Jane said, "I don't remember you putting up much of a fight when I said I wanted to stay in London."

She lined up her sights on the first mercenary she saw and fired three rounds before she was forced to retreat back into the safety of the bathroom.

"It made you happy, Jane. I'd move to the south pole if it was where you would be happy."

"You know the South Pole is colder than Noveria, right?" Jane asked.

Her heart flipped in her chest, double tapping against her ribs when Garrus told her that he definitely knew that the South Pole was colder than Noveria.

"There's no Shepard without Vakarian," he reminded her and the smile that had been teasing her lips when he brought up living in the cold if it would make her happy finally broke free.

"I can't believe this," Thractis chimed in. "We're in the middle of a fire fight and you two are chatting like love sick pyjacks."

"It passes the time," Jane explained.

Finally, there was a break in the gun fire pinning her down and she was able to peek around the door frame once again. She swallowed hard when she saw a rather large turian barreling toward her. Raising her pistol, she squeezed the trigger continuously, firing as rapidly as she could in hopes of slowing the charging merc down.

' _Son of a bitch!_ ' she swore silently when her pistol let out a high pitched squeal, telling her the thermal clip was overheated and needed to be ejected. She pressed the release automatically, muscle memories from far too many hours spent on the battle field leaping to the forefront as she kept her eye on the mercenary heading toward her. God, what she wouldn't give to have her biotics in that moment. He was getting closer and she would have loved to send him flying with one good throw.

She took a slow step back into the bathroom as she dug in her jacket's pocket for a fresh thermal clip. Her hand met soft, supple leather and she screamed inwardly, cursing as she realized she was out of ammo. The merc was now in the bathroom with her, his gun aimed at her chest and a sinister smirk causing his mandibles to flare.

"You wouldn't by any chance have a spare thermal clip, would you?" Jane asked, forcing down the lump that was forming in her throat.

The merc smirked at her, "I would."

"Oh, awesome!" Jane grinned. "Would you mind if I borrowed it? I promise I'll give it back when I'm done."

The merc laughed as he took a slow step toward her, forcing Jane to take another step back. "Now why would I want to do that?"

"Because it'll be less painful." Jane smiled sweetly as she retreated another step. She had to clamp down on the panic welling in her chest again when her back hit the wall behind her. She was cornered.

"Less painful than what?" he asked as he advanced toward her. The muzzle of his rifle was inches from her chest and he was close enough that she could make out the color of his eyes behind the visor of his helmet.

Jane swallowed hard as she wiggled her fingers slowly, hoping to open her omni-blade without the mercenary noticing. She braced herself, shuffling her feet further apart and widening her stance so that her attack would be stronger. She knew she wasn't going to be able to do much, but she hoped to take the turian by surprise so that she could escape. Just as she was about to attack, her chest clenched and the baby kicked frantically against her ribs in response to the pounding bass of angry subharmonics. The mercenary's eyes bulged a moment before he let out a high pitched, short scream as an omni-blade came across his throat. Blue blood gushed, splattering across Jane's face and the wall behind her as he crumpled to the ground.

"…than that," Garrus answered the turian's question for her.

Jane stood frozen, her hands splayed wide and pressed against the wall behind her, her eyes and mouth clenched shut against the blood splattered across her face. She couldn't see Garrus or say anything to him but she could hear him. He was panting, his breath hissing through his mandibles. It was long moments before the deep rumble of his subharmonics calmed down enough that she no longer felt them. As they dissipated, the baby's frantic rolling and kicking decreased until finally, he too, calmed and ceased using her innards as his personal punching bag.

It was the quiet that unsettled her. After long minutes of non-stop gun fire and constant chatter over the comm, she found herself deafened by the sudden loss of noise. The clatter of Garrus' armor as he moved in front of her made her cringe. Where was he going? What was he doing? She heard Velcro tearing open and then a package crumpled from across the room. Was that a protein bar he was unwrapping? She was stuck here, unable to open her eyes or say anything and he was eating? Where had he gone to?

She shifted her feet, trying to stand up taller and slipped in the blood pooling around her boots. Pressing her hands firmly against the wall, she attempted to slow her descent, but her hands slipped on the blood splattered on the tiles. All she could do was brace herself for the bruises when she landed and pray that the sudden jostling wouldn't harm the baby. She gritted her teeth, waiting for her ass to land on the tile below her, but it never happened. Strong hands were suddenly around her arms, yanking her out of the fall and against an armored chest. Who's chest? Was Garrus still near her? Forgetting about the blood spattered across her lips, she sucked a pained breath in through her teeth as the individual holding her jostled her sore arm.

"Shit," Garrus cursed from just above her head and she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized he was holding her.

"Don't swallow, Jane," he ordered.

He shifted her in his grasp, one of his arms tucking under her knees while the other cradled her shoulders. She lay in his arms as he turned and began to walk…somewhere, helpless to do anything except focus on not swallowing the acrid taste that was permeating her mouth. Turian blood tasted like every horrible flavor she could think of combined. It was ear wax and grape fruit and cough medicine all mixed in one. Where was he taking her? She turned her head from side to side, and slowly attempted to open her eyes.

"Stop!" Garrus ordered again. Two steps later, he stopped moving but didn't put her down.

"Can you stand?" he asked. For reasons she couldn't comprehend, his voice was gruff and his tone was harsh.

Jane nodded as she hummed, "Mm-hmm."

He moved the arm that was under her knees and her feet dropped to the ground. His hands wrapped around her ribs just above the bulge of her stomach, steadying her as she got her bearings with her eyes closed. Once she was stable, he grasped her hand and led it to the edge of a sink.

"Hang on."

She complied with his command, her brows creasing in consternation. What had crawled up his ass and died? The only things he'd said to her since coming to her rescue were short, curt orders and commands. If she was able to speak she'd ask him what the hell his problem was. Unfortunately, she couldn't speak at the moment and was thus forced to stand in silence wherever he'd stood her. Instead, she focused on not swallowing the increasing amounts of saliva her mouth was excreting to remove that turian's blood.

Something cool, wet, and scratchy was dragged across her lips, clearing the drying blood from her mouth. She hummed approvingly as Garrus worked, wiping her lips twice more before she groped for the edge of the sink, leaned over toward where she hoped the bowl was, and spat the blood and spit from her mouth. His hands were on hers again, guiding them toward the spigot. She scooped handfuls of water into her mouth, swishing and spitting to clear as much of the turian blood out so as not to endanger the baby by accidentally swallowing any. She knew that she wasn't allergic to dextro-amino acids but, unfortunately, James was and there was no way to know if the child was as well.

Once she'd cleared her mouth, she set to work on her eyes. Cupping the cool water in her palms, she splashed it onto her face and scrubbed at her eyelids. Turian blood was thinner than human blood. Because of this, the blood on her face was drying quickly and she had to scrub at her eyebrows and lashes to make sure there was no blood waiting to drip into her eyes when she opened them.

After splashing one more handful of water on her face, she tentatively opened her eyes. Through the screen of her lashes, which were sticking together from all the water weighing them down, she counted her fingers before turning her focus to the sink basin beyond.  _Elkoss Industries_ was stamped on the ring around the sink's drain and she couldn't help but snicker. Didn't she, at one point, own both armor and a gun made by Elkoss Industries? The same people who made this sink had made her armor and her gun. That explained so much. The sound of something wooden breaking and crashing in the bar caused Garrus and her to stiffen. Her fingers clenched around the lip of the sink as she straightened up.

"Where's Thractis?" she whispered to Garrus. She saw his answering shrug in her periphery.

"I've been in here with you since the shooting stopped." There was an undercurrent to his voice, a low menacing tone that told her that they were definitely going to have to talk about what he'd witnessed in the bathroom.

Wood scraped against the floor not far from the bathroom and Garrus grabbed her by the shoulders, shoving her behind him in case whoever was out there was hostile. She tapped his forearm with the back of her left hand before holding the appendage out, palm up.

"Gimme your pistol," she whispered. "Mine's out of ammo…and I don't know where it is."

"I noticed," he growled quietly, making another barely veiled reference to the earlier situation. He reached behind his back and released the pistol he kept holstered at the small of his back before handing it to her.

"Oh, stuff it," she snipped as she accepted the pistol, checking the clip and chambering the first round instinctively.

"We're going to talk about this, Jane." Garrus looked over his shoulder momentarily and she could see the emotions welling inside him clearly in his eyes. Anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, love- he was a walking contradiction.

"Of course we are," she sighed heavily behind him as more scraping noises came from the pub's dining area. The tension of simply waiting for whoever was left alive in the bar was straining her last nerve and as a chair went skittering past the door she snapped.

"My god! Who is out there? What the hell are they doing?"

She tried to step around Garrus and move to the door frame so she could get a better look into the dining area but he side stepped, keeping her behind him.

"What does it matter, Jane? They're out there, we're in here. Just shut up."

"Oh hell-fucking-no!" Jane snapped when she realized what he was up to. "I am not hiding! I have never hid- well okay there was that one time, but I was six!- I am not hiding from whoever is out there! You are not going to shove me behind you like some child you have to protect."

"Excuse me!" Garrus turned on her quickly, the noises from the bar and dining area ignored as he stopped whispering. His volume rose quickly as he addressed her. "You are carrying the child that I  _am_ going to protect and since you can't seem to understand what 'don't do anything heroic' means-"

He cut off when a throat cleared behind him.

"Everything okay in here?" Thractis asked.

* * *

Every muscle in Garrus' body visibly relaxed when he realized the person they'd heard in the bar was Thractis, but when he heard the other turian's subharmonics hum with amusement he tensed again. A low, snarled warning vibrated through the air between them which Thractis ignored. He could have acknowledged it, sure, but he wasn't here for Garrus and at the moment he didn't really care about the other turian's opinion. Garrus turned his head then, glaring over his shoulder and cowl ridge at Thractis.

 _Get out!_  Garrus subharmonics barked.

"No," Thractis answered out loud.

"Out! Now!"

Garrus turned around completely and took a menacing step toward him. Thractis stood his ground, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned back against the mutilated edge of the door frame. He forced his body to relax into the position, hiding the slight shiver that was slowly climbing up his spine as six and a half feet of angry turian postured over him.

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not here for you. My orders were clear when I left the Citadel yesterday morning. You can't boss me around." Thractis shoved away from the door frame and leaned to one side, attempting to look around Garrus. "How are you, ma'am?"

Jane stepped out from behind Garrus' hulking frame, a look of pure shock on her face. "Me?" Her voice pitched higher as she poked a finger into her chest. "You're here for me?"

Thractis took in her appearance quickly. There was blue blood caked in the wisps of hair that had come free from where she'd pulled it back, more blood was drying in streaks across her face, neck, and the shoulders of her jacket. He took a step toward her, his omni-tool already opened and scanning her body.

"Not exactly," he answered.

He stopped in front of her and stared at the readings on his omni-tool. After assessing her physical state and finding that while she may be covered in turian blood and may need stitches for the wound on her arm, she was in relatively good shape, he tapped on the 'tool's interface. A golden glow encompassed his right hand as he reached for the zipper on her jacket.

Garrus snarled next to him, shoving him away from Jane.

"Take your alpha-male routine elsewhere, Vakarian," he snapped. "I have one job and that's to keep that child safe. If I have to put you on your back to do it, I will."

He grabbed hold of the zipper near the hollow of Jane's neck and yanked it down, shoving the sides of the jacket away from her middle before pressing his hand against her stomach. He watched the image on his omni-tool carefully as he ran his hand over the bulge at her middle. He was looking for one thing in particular.

 _C'mon, c'mon,_  he whispered in his mind as he searched.  _It wasn't this hard in the simulations._ He let out a sigh of relief as the baby's vitals popped up on the screen. His heart rate was fast by comparison to a turian fetus, but was within the normal range for a human. A moment later, the image on the screen changed and he got a glimpse of the child.

"There," his subharmonics were filled with pride as he tapped the interface and the image blinked.

The display of the child's vitals was replaced with the grainy image of a small human head. He pulled his hand away from Jane's middle and tapped on his omni-tool's interface, sending the image he'd captured to both Jane and Garrus before he turned and stepped away from Jane. He turned away from the couple and headed toward the exit from the bathroom, pausing momentarily to call over his shoulder.

"Carry on," he smirked as he left the bathroom, the sound of their omni-tools pinging following him into the bar.

* * *

"Madre de dios," James cursed as they turned into Gilhouley's parking lot. He slowed down, bringing the skycar to a complete stop as one of the local police officers came up to his window.

"Sorry sir, this establishment is closed," the officer explained.

"We're not here for a drink, officer, this is official Alliance business." James keyed open his omni-tool and waved his hand, sending his credentials to the other man's omni-tool. The officer took a moment to verify them before stepping aside and waving them toward an empty area of the parking lot.

"What the 'ell happened here?" Zaeed asked from the back seat as they drove past squad cars and ambulances.

It was a damn good question. What the hell  _had_  happened? Where were Jane and Garrus? Why had they decided to come here, anyway? He parked the vehicle as close to the pub's entrance as he could get and sat transfixed as he watched a gurney carrying a navy blue body bag being wheeled out of the pub.

"Oh Goddess," Liara gasped from the passenger seat. "I think there was a turian in that bag." She raised one hand to her mouth, covering her trembling lips and reaching for him with the other.

"It wasn't Garrus," James assured her.  _It can't be Garrus_  he added silently. Vakarian wasn't allowed to die, not until James had a chance to kick his ass for pulling this stupid stunt.

Another gurney was wheeled out of the pub with another body bag on it. The officer at the pub's entrance unzipped the bag, peeling back the sides to scan the occupant with his omni-tool before waving the paramedic past. Everyone in the vehicle stared as the gurney went past them. That was most definitely a turian in that bag. The jostling as the paramedics loaded the gurney into the ambulance caused the turian's arm to slip from the body bag.

"Son of a bitch," James cursed when he saw the red and gold symbol on the turian's armor.

"Purity for Palaven," Liara whispered next to him.

"You recognize that turian?" Jack asked from the back seat.

Liara answered Jack's question while James released his seat belt and shoved the car door open. He was done sitting and wondering. Now, he was going in that pub and he was going to get some answers.

"Purity for Palaven is the group that has been terrorizing Jane and Garrus for the past few months. They started with death threats and escalated to the attack on their home two weeks ago," Liara was explaining as James slid out of the car. Her voice trailed off into the background as James made his way through the crowd of onlookers toward the police barricade just in front of the pub.

"Hold up," Zaeed called from behind him. The disgruntled complaints of civilians could be heard in the mercenary's wake as James assumed he shoved his way through the crowd.

"Lieutenant Commander Vega," James introduced himself to the officer at the barricade. "I have reason to believe that Primarch Vakarian and former Commander Shepard were involved in whatever transpired this evening-"

The officer cut James off as he cursed, "yer damn right they were."

"I see, officer. Well, then, this just became a joint operation with the Alliance."

"As well as the Turian military."

James looked past the officer in front of him toward the first breathing turian he'd seen since they'd pulled into the parking lot. The male was standing in the doorway of the pub with his arms folded across his chest. He was wearing black slacks and a leather jacket cut to fit a turian- obviously tailored specifically to fit him.

"And you are?" James crossed the police tape, ignoring the alarms wailing behind him as he stomped toward the turian.

"Alorus Thractis, Turian Blackwatch." The turian stuck out his right hand as he introduced himself. James stared down at the offered talons skeptically before raising his glare back up to the turian's face.

"Oh, come now, Lieutenant Commander," Thractis dropped his hand but continued to speak. "We're on the same side. I was ordered here by Councilor Victus and the hierarchy themselves for the same reason you're here- to protect Jane, Garrus, and the baby."

"Uh-huh." James crossed his arms in front of his chest, shifting his weight to his left leg as he stared at Thractis. "Funny you say that, because we left Jane and Garrus with explicit orders not to leave their house, yet they found a reason to do just that."

Thractis looked down toward his boots momentarily as he rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. "Yes, well, that may have been my doing."

James kept quiet, refusing to look away from Thractis while he waited for the turian to elaborate.

"It's a long story, why don't we step inside and allow the officers to finish their work while we talk."

Thractis turned and strode into the pub, James and Zaeed close on his heels. They stepped around bodies and pools of blue blood as they made their way to what was once a beautiful bar.

"Ah hell," Zaeed muttered. "This was one of the few bars to make it through that bloody war."

James shook his head at Zaeed's grumbling, pinching the bridge of his nose where a bitch of a headache was forming. This night was getting worse with every body the officers rolled out of the pub and he still hadn't seen hide or hair of Jane or Garrus. Where were they? What had happened to them? Was the turian in front of him really part of the Blackwatch or was this all just an elaborate ruse by Purity for Palaven?

"I know what you're thinking," Thractis said as he stepped behind what was left of the bar. James watched as he knocked broken glasses to the floor, rummaging through the few intact bottles of liquor until he pulled one off the shelf with a pleased subharmonic hum.

"Do you now?" James asked. Thractis continued to move around behind the bar, opening and closing cabinets until he let out another subharmonic chirp of happiness and stood back up with three lowball glasses grasped within his talons. He poured the liquor he'd found into the glasses and set two glasses in front of Zaeed and James.

"You're wondering 'Is this guy for real? Is he truly part of Blackwatch? Is he here for what he says or was he just a ploy to get Garrus and Jane to leave their home?' Well, I can answer that for you. Yes, I am real. Yes, I am part of Blackwatch. Yes, I was sent by the hierarchy, and yes, this was all a ploy to see if Jane and Garrus would leave their home. But, I can assure you that I never meant for any harm to come of them. The attack tonight was completely unexpected. If I'd known there was a chance they would be in danger I would not have invited them out."

James' hands curled into fists as he listened to Thractis' speech. As the turian went on about how he'd lured them out of their home, lured them to this pub, James had to grit his teeth to keep himself from jumping over the bar and punching the bastard. He was furious that someone who was ordered to protect Jane and Garrus would so flippantly endanger their lives. The only redeeming fact in the whole sorry tale, was that James could hear Thractis' subharmonics and they matched the words coming from the male. There were no discrepancies between what Thractis was saying and what he was feeling that would give away a lie.

"Where are Jane and Garrus now?" James asked as he stared down at the liquid in the glass in front of him.

Thractis opened his mouth to answer but before he could say anything a crashing sound came from James' right. He and Zaeed jumped, their gazes snapping toward the noise. There was more crashing and the sound of frustrated subharmonics reached James a moment before Garrus and Jane came into view. Jane was in Garrus arms. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck, her fingers entwined with the spines of his fringe while his talons curled around her thighs, holding her up and against him. He stumbled again as he stepped out of the bathroom and Jane's low sultry laugh mixed with the bass of Garrus' subharmonics as the turian pressed her against the wall and ground himself suggestively against the apex of her legs.

"I guess they worked out their issues," Zaeed chortled lewdly as he retrieved his glass from the bar and threw back the shot of liquor Thractis had poured for him. "I'll be outside if ye' need me."


End file.
